I LIVE
So... This hiatus took a little over a year now, crazy stuff happening in college especially when summer classes are required.
That being said, the next chapter is gonna be released next week, just needs a bit of polishing. The funny thing about it was that next week's chapter was supposedly my return-from-hiatus chapter, but then hiatus dragged out for too long AND when I got to the last section of that chapter, I realized that I need to cover the timeline/events of this one first to keep consistency.
Chapter 11:
"Alright, time to recap. This time without Weiss shouting." Ruby commences the team meeting as all four of them (plus Zwei, snuggled up beside the team leader) huddle around the living room table as if in a conference room, sitting cross-legged, with Blake's scroll recording the entire conversation (Journal Entry!), a large sheet of paper, and some pencils resting on the middle. Yang sits on Ruby's left side of the table while Weiss on the right as Blake sits across Ruby.
Luz just brought in a tray of mugs and a pitcher of water for everyone else as Eda leaves the room to roam the Owl House. Meanwhile, King, Gus, and Willow are sitting on the couch, and Amity is just standing by the doorway as Hooty opens the door inward to listen in as well.
"H-Hey. Rude…" Weiss objects, with a little mumble near the end of her answer, "but can't argue against it…"
"So!" Ruby begins with a clap of her hands, and jots down as she talks, "it was our final day in Beacon Academy before the short pre-Tourney break."
Yang nods, adding in, gesturing to herself and Ruby, "we were done packing our stuff, ready to head back home."
"When Ruby was supposed to take Zwei out for a bathroom break," Blake answers, Yang nods before Ruby passes the paper to either of the three, which Weiss takes.
"But Zwei eventually strayed until we all found a machine made by Atlas military…" Weiss stops writing to clarify and rewrite in the paper, "or at least the research division of Atlas,"
"We accidentally activated it without knowing how, which led to us getting teleported to…" Blake gestures to the trio on the couch, hoping to get an answer as Weiss passes the paper to her.
"The Boiling Isles of the Demon Realm," Gus picks up on the cue and fills in for her.
"Thank you," Blake gives a nod as she writes it down before passing it back to Ruby.
"I wound up in Amity's place. Where she helped me get back on my feet and get me to The Owl House. Everyone here helped me try to find all of you," Ruby sets the pencil down and turns back to happily grin at Amity, who only gives a neutral nod in response. Ruby turns to the kids on the couch and smiles the same, they reciprocate with warmer expressions.
"Meanwhile I ended up in the local library. Where I was chased by some huge floating creature with a menacing cloud and gaze… It took all night hiding in Amity's secret study room before I was found by her as well," Weiss gestures to Amity without looking up as Ruby continues writing on the paper.
Blake finally grabs her mug of water to begin drinking silently.
"Umm… Weiss?" Amity calls out and beckons her to come closer near the doorway. Weiss gives a raised eyebrow before complying, standing up to approach her.
"What is it?"
"So, the one you encountered was the Master Librarian…" Amity begins.
"Uh huh?" Weiss responds with a raised eyebrow, prompting Amity to continue.
"And about him, well…" Amity then leans closer and begins to whisper a couple of things.
Blake's bow shifts a bit, seemingly on its own, one end tilting forward in the direction of Weiss and Amity while the other end adjusts backward accordingly. Yet despite that, she keeps a neutral face while drinking.
Luz is the only one to notice that and gives a wide-eyed stare, her immediate thoughts going:
Wait… Right, cat ears! But are they… In the bow?
Her impulses are itching.
After a few more seconds of talk that Ruby and Yang can't hear while the other kids are just looking at each other in confusion at what Amity and Weiss could possibly be whispering about, Blake nearly chokes on her drink and blows a few bubbles on it as if straining a short laugh. Weiss immediately snaps her head to Blake and scowls at her, greatly insulted. As Blake starts coughing on the water in her throat, Ruby and Yang try to rush to her side but she stops them, reassuring them that she can recover on her own. Which she did.
"Sorry, sorry. I-It's nothing…" Blake awkwardly waves away everyone's concerned looks and pretends to continue drinking.
Blake subtly avoids Weiss' glare by looking to her left… Which happens to be where Luz is. With a hand reached out. Directly heading to Blake's black bow.
She stops drinking and gives a guarded stare as she leans back and scoots a little to the right. Luz gets the message right away and moves her hand around subtly with a swiping motion while pretending to stretch and bend her joints around.
Blake is suspicious still and angles her body a bit so that she keeps Luz in her peripheral vision.
"You will NOT tell anyone about this." Weiss turns back and hisses at Amity, who only complies with a nod of her head.
"Right."
"ahem…" Blake clears her throat as she looks back to her teammates, sets down the mug, begins writing, and explains, "I woke up on what I assumed is The Knee of the Isles. Encountered a huge creature as well, Eda calls it the Slitherbeast…"
Luz and Amity shiver in unison by instinct upon recalling the shared experience.
"Luckily, by late morning, Eda and King found me and reunited me with Ruby."
"And I spent the night in prison, for an unjust reason, with Warden Wrath monitoring everyone else… You all know the rest," Yang finishes with a nonchalant shrug before crossing her arms.
"And finally! Team RWBY is back together!" Ruby declares with a cheer as she bring her mug high in the air, in the middle of the group, Yang instinctively follows suit with a grin as she grabs her mug to meet Ruby's and-
CLINK!
Blake and Weiss realize what's going on and do the same gesture.
CLINK! CLINK! CLINK! CLINK! CLINK!
Weiss empties her mug rather quickly and quietly before setting it on the table and refilling it with a new batch of water, realizing she's more parched than initially thought.
Yang lets out a huge breath of relief when she finishes hers a second before Weiss did, "whoo! Water after a workout is just the best. Egg with salt on the side would've paired this moment well,"
"We really should do something to repay you! Or at least I should!" Ruby says to Amity as she hops her way to her, Willow's eyebrows go up at the same time, intrigued at Ruby's statement and general amiability towards Amity.
Amity, on the other hand, is helplessly receiving Ruby's doting attitude and tries to downplay the scale of her assistance by raising her palms, "no need, Ruby. No big deal."
Yang scoffs, rolling her eyes before lazily tilting her head to Amity's direction, "Pfft… 'No big deal', yeah, right."
Amity tries a last ditch attempt: Being modest about the praise as she waves both of her arms across each other like a pair of scissors, "I'm just glad to help, there's nothing to repay me for. Honestly, I'm impressed I helped this much by instinct…"
But it seems that her very answer sealed her fate as it only egged Ruby further into her approach. Ruby's silver eyes start to twinkle with delight and adoration as she circles behind Amity and envelops her body in the same red hood she's wearing right now, leaving her head to pop out just below Ruby's chin. She hugs Amity by the shoulder in one hand and pokes her other arm out the hood, waving to Yang.
"Yang! I'm adopting Amity!" Ruby declares as she points to Amity and rubs cheeks with her, as if snuggling her like she would with Zwei.
What happened next was an uproar of disbelief going off at the same time…
Amity: "H-Huh?!"
Blake: "Excuse me, -"
Blake, Luz, Willow, Gus, simultaneously: "What?"
Weiss pinches the bridge of her nose and closes her tired eyes as she sighs in exasperation, "Ruby… You're joking, right?"
Yang replies without batting an eye as she doodles fireworks and bikes on the corners of the paper, "Hmm? Oh, sure. Why not, Rubes? Do you have the adoption papers ready though?"
Everyone else turns to the big sister, their heads snapping instantly and they all shout, "YANG?!"
Amity, now turning as red as Ruby's cloak, starts to mutter incomprehensible words as she struggles to form a proper response, overwhelmed, "U-Umm… W-Wait…"
Ruby merely puts a finger on her chin as she ponders for a bit before scratching her cheek as she answers Yang's question, "Uh… That would be a 'no' unless there's an office for this."
Weiss is just losing it as she just doubles down on her initial question, "YOU TWO ARE JOKING, RIGHT?! YOU'RE NOT ACTUALLY CONSIDERING-!"
"Well, bad news, kids." Eda cuts the atmosphere of the room with her announcement as she comes out of the hallway and dusts her dress, restarting everyone's mood and focus, "we don't have any extra beds for the rest of you. Y'all are free to roam the house and the basement, choose a space for yourselves that isn't any of our rooms."
"I'd offer mine, but it might end up getting more cramped, Ruby's already sleeping on a hammock." Luz points out.
Eda adds as she fluffs up her hair and picks out stray cobwebs that clung to her, "… There's also the option of finding shelter elsewhere, but I don't know a good place that'll house the rest of you and isn't a cave."
"There should be people who can sell some mattresses, right? Or at least sleeping bags. We can make do with the living room here or the basement under," Blake guides the conversation.
"Yeah, we've all managed sleeping bags on our Mountain Glenn mission," Weiss answers as she starts drinking her own mug of water again, more slowly this time.
"We can walk you guys back to the market and find a good store that sells them. We still have our own things to do before all this happened, after all." Willow reassures the group, gesturing to herself and Gus.
"And I still have to get back to the Library," Amity adds while still wrapped under Ruby's embrace. Weiss groans and walks towards the duo.
"Please let go of Amity, Ruby. You're suffocating the poor girl with your overacting." Weiss begs as she slides a hand under Ruby's cloak and pulls Amity away from the hugger while pinching the reaper on the cheek with her other hand for two seconds, "being all clingy and snuggly with her too."
"Well, I can go. I can haul bags and mattresses with no problem," Yang volunteers.
"Absolutely not."
Everyone perks up and turns to the source of that statement. Ruby.
She immediately objects, making a huge 'X' by crossing her arms, "we just got you out of trouble, I am not letting you get caught again."
"Ruby, it's fine." Luz reassures, "Eda and I walk around the market on the regular."
"Yeah, as long as you can run faster than the guards, you should be free to do whatever you want. Your super speed should do the trick, right?" Eda adds with a toothy grin and two thumbs up.
Ruby purses her lips and stares at Eda as if slightly offended at the question. Eda immediately picks up on that and continues.
"Look, if you're worried about the Warden, just don't. He's not worth fussing about when you're not in the Conformatorium," Eda says as she pats Ruby by the right shoulder twice before grabbing her cloak and pulling the hoodie over her face in surprise.
"Wha-! Huh?" Ruby asks as she fiddles with her hood back in place.
"Wrath will just find silly reasons or convoluted methods for whoever he comes across…" Eda complains before beginning to count, "... He stole King's paper crown-"
"Crushed it too! Right in front of me!" King cries out as he reminisces about what happened back then.
"There, there, King," Luz comforts as she carries him to her lap and rubs his back.
"- cut my head off, and restrained Luz…" Eda then stops at three fingers before pointing to herself with her thumb, "... Just so he can ask me out on a date. He's not a super serious person, he only takes his job seriously enough to keep it."
Yang snickers for a bit before piping in, "I wanna hear more about THAT little story."
King chips in, clearly amused and mischievous, "if you think that's funny, wait 'till you hear how the other witches and demons tried their luck on Eda."
Ruby puffs one of her cheeks as she buys Eda's explanation a bit, trying to take the situation with a little more leniency. Still, she hasn't given her half-sister the green light to go ahead.
Yang merely shrugs at the outcome. She'll comply anyway if it's Ruby, her team leader AND her (overly worried) sister.
Weiss tries to join in on the conversation by setting her mug down, raising her right hand and gesturing to herself with her left, "well, what if I accompany them and get us the sleeping gear?"
Ruby grins a bit for a second before blinking twice, the smile fades and is replaced by worry for some reason, "Weiss… You…"
"W-What?"
Ruby doesn't respond verbally, but she does slowly walk towards Weiss while her silver eyes are trained on her, narrowing as she hones in on her location.
Why is she getting closer all of a sudden?
Weiss shifts uncomfortably at the approach and tries to retreat only for her back to hit the wall right away. She purses her lips and raises her arms up to her chest level in anticipation for… Something. Weiss is pretty sure Ruby of all people wouldn't hurt Weiss without a reason but there's the uncertainty that she can literally try anything else.
Ruby stops three steps in front of Weiss and leans forward, her silver eyes trained on Weiss' face, almost as if Ruby's finding something so small or faint. Searching for an answer within Weiss' eyes.
And that's when Ruby did.
Literally.
"Did you even SLEEP last night?" Ruby asks, her pitch growing higher in worry as she starts to lean back and point at Weiss' eyebags with one finger alternating between them.
"She spent the night reading plenty of books relating to the Isles and magic… That's how I first saw her." Amity answers on the side. Weiss immediately turns her gaze to Amity, as if she shot her with a gun or something.
Amity, you snitch!
She turns back to Ruby and attempts to dissuade Ruby's concerns, her hands gesturing every which way as she explains, "Uh… Yeah, I did that… But I still have some energy in me. I-I mean didn't I manage two Time Dilation glyphs in one fight? That's a sign of improvement, right?"
Yang grins mischievously and fakes a yawn.
Weiss instinctively follows with a genuine yawn that draws out twice as long as Yang's and small tears form on her eyes. She immediately goes wide-eyed at what she just did and she covers her mouth with both hands.
Ah, shoot, got caught.
Blake gives a single raised eyebrow with an amused smirk, her bow twitches twice before stretching sideways to pair the smirk, "Dehydrated and fatigued. No wonder you've been on edge since a while ago."
Luz notices the bow twitching again. The previous banter a while ago made her forget her first attempt… So she goes to reach out for it again, while everyone else is busy with the commotion. Her impulses are itching again.
"Weiss… You are going to sleep," Ruby orders her without missing a beat, pointing directly to the couch.
"Ruby…" Weiss pleads, grabbing Ruby by the shoulders gently, but to no avail.
"Nuh-uh. You did a lot in one sleepless day, you need proper rest after everything," Ruby doesn't budge and keeps her gaze trained on Weiss' blue eyes.
"B-But… I-I…"
Ruby lays a finger on Weiss' lips, silencing, strictly demanding her as Ruby furrows eyebrows, "You. Sleep. Now…"
Weiss keeps quiet for a few more seconds before gingerly grabbing Ruby's finger and lifting it from her lips, finally relenting and apologizing, "Fine… Sorry, for my outburst a while ago too. Thanks, Ruby, I really appreciate it."
As Luz reaches for Blake's bow, it twitches again, perking up. Blake finally watches her trying again, but stays still until the last second to snatch her hand in the act. But before she could catch her again… Weiss ushers Luz, King, Gus, and Willow off the couch with the courtesy to say, "excuse me, please. Tired lady coming through."
Luz breaks away from her 'trance' and pays attention to the sleepy Weiss before complying.
Yang watches all that though and hums for a bit before suggesting to Ruby, "what about Blake?"
"Hmm?" Ruby responds, turning back to her sister.
"Blake. I think she's our best shot at blending in and getting the stuff we need. Subtle, self-composed, sneaky, not to mention her Shadow semblance that she could use as her getaway." Yang explains.
"Uh… Makes sense. Can't deny that."
"Why was Luz reaching for my bow…" Blake trails off as she pieces together a certain implication. She then turns to her leader, asking more loudly this time "Ruby, did you tell her about… You know…"
"Uh… Y-Yeah. I did. Sorry. I was describing everything about all three of you. Better chances of finding you all." Ruby scratches the back of her head a bit before giving a guilty chuckle, "should I have not?"
Yang gives a shrug and instead asks, "Luz, did you know that some of the witches in prison thought you were a catgirl?"
Luz sits on Ruby's previous spot and turns to Yang to answer, "Wasn't that on my first day here? But yes."
"Were they disgusted with you whether you were a Faun-! Uh, a cat girl or a human?"
"No, not at all. Don't think they acted any differently." Luz shrugs.
"And how long have you been here in the Boiling Isles while everyone knows you're a human?"
"Uh… Lemme check…" she mutters as she reaches for her phone and brings up the calendar, "... About thirty-seven days, yeah."
That number gave Ruby a sinking sensation, a huge pit of disbelief pops up within her. Her heart just drops and she is left to stare at Luz, speechless at how casually Luz could just say how long she's been here when she still has her own human realm to go back to.
She's not trapped here too, is she?
"Is that alright with you, Blake?" Yang continues the conversation between her, Blake and Luz, unaware of the astonishment Ruby is undergoing before Ruby snaps herself back into reality.
Blake places a hand on her chin as she glances between her team members. Ruby merely reaches for her own mug and drinks. Weiss is too tired on the couch to give anything more than a lazy eye, but she doesn't make any sound as to whether she's with or against this. Yang has her arm propped up on the table but her attention on Blake is firm and undivided, especially after she puts the spotlight on her.
Blake then switches her view to the others. Luz is holding her breath while King envelops her neck and Hooty encircles the two of them, their eyes almost at level with each other and collectively staring. Eda's still leaning on the back of the couch while checking her nails, but her eyes do occasionally switch to Blake every few seconds, showing at least a little bit of intrigue despite her laid-back attitude. Amity stands on the doorframe, her expression calm and unassuming. Willow is standing on the left side of the couch, giving a sympathetic look as evidenced by her softening eyes and relaxed pointy ears, but she does flash an encouraging little smile to Blake. Gus' eyes are gleaming with wonder and curiosity as he peeks out from the right side of the couch and scoots closer to Blake.
She then heaves a slow and calming exhale.
She reaches for the ribbon strings holding her bow together and slowly unravels them. As the entire thing comes loose, the bow and the ribbon give way to reveal her pointy cat ears situated at the top of her head for all to see, a huge contrast to her human ears that are at the side of head like everyone else's and slightly hidden with the help of her hair.
"Whoa…" Amity, Gus, Willow, Luz, Eda, King, and even Hooty all exclaim in awe as they take in the sight of Blake. She looks away nervously as she lets them stare at all four of her ears, her feline ears twitch and swivel every now and then to adjust to the sudden change of atmosphere -both the air and the attention. Eventually, their gazes shift from between the four ears to between Blake's eyes and amongst each other. The pressure makes her slightly uncomfortable.
But the hexside kids share wide smiles of delight amongst themselves. Gus and Luz even give their own thumbs up to Blake. Their bodies are shaking, overflowing with excitement, clearly showing how much they want to know more. They whisper amongst each other, but Blake's cat ears definitely picked up.
"Be sure to ask some questions while on the way."
"Let's share notes. You'll cover what I wasn't able to."
"Deal."
Ruby then starts talking again, a little more at ease but just to be sure: "We don't wanna force anything upon you… You're free to say no and just stay, I'll be the one to go back out there. I'm sure you'll be fine, cat ears or bow."
Blake gains the resolve, finalizing her decision by leaving her Gambol Shroud alongside the weapon's magnetic backpack on the table. She reaches for her ribbon on the floor and uses it to tie most of her wavy hair into a low ponytail, leaving only the fringes and the bunches at the temples. The hair at her sides and temples do a decent job covering her human ears even if she lightly swivels her head side-to-side. She just needs to be careful when parting the hair behind her human ears. She finally grabs the bow and sets it on the table as well.
"Guess that settles it," Eda tosses a pouch full of coins to Blake. Snails.
"We'll safeguard these. Just hide and call if anything happens, 'kay?" Yang reminds her as she reaches for the catgirl's stuff.
"Take care, Blake. And uh… Have fun out there?" Ruby bids as she steps aside.
Blake nods to both statements with a reassuring smile before heading out the door with Amity, Willow, and Gus trailing right behind her.
Meanwhile…
In the silent and serene night that surrounds the Xiao Long Cabin, only the kitchen light stays on. Despite the upcoming Vytal Festival, only one resident is there right now, a tan man with aged blue eyes and grayed-out blonde hair sporting cargos, tans, and leathers alongside a bright red bandana on his left arm. Taiyang Xiao Long, the shared father of the red reaper and the blonde brawler.
"Hmm… Weird. What's taking them so long to come home?" Taiyang mutters to himself.
While he is currently cleaning up the kitchen counter and setting aside all the utensils and jars into their respective cabinets, a Scroll lights up and rings. As soon as he checked it out, he saw that the caller was none other than Professor Ozpin.
End Notes:
Full disclosure:
I will not be prioritizing any shipping within team RWBY since I would like to develop them individually, as a group/found-family, and as platonic work partners. That being said, I left an ambiguous WhiteRose crumb for my beta reader to enjoy and hopefully the rest of you guys if y'all are into them (but the interaction can still be enjoyed as platonic and familial since I didn't put any romantic implications).
See you all next week!