*Legend 15*
Painting the Town
...
And finally, after many exhilarating and stressful hours, basic training was done. All in all, the day had been a great success in Ruby's eyes. When it came to the skirmish format, or doubles really, as they fought two against two, Ruby and Yang utterly dominated their competitors; their sisterly bond; their incredible teamwork that had been developed over the years; and their complimentary strengths of speed and power saw them absolutely cruise to victory.
The singles format, however, is where the girls ran into trouble. Ruby herself suffered a somewhat embarrassing second round defeat at the hands of Team Celsius's Yuna. The girl was a what people had come to start calling "crossbreed". A Guardian born of one semblance, that enlisted the abilities of another. In this case, Yuna was a born Sunsinger, but she fought as a Gunslinger would; combining the best aspects of both semblances, she fancied herself a 'Sunslinger'. Her hybrid combination of Radiance and Golden Gun proved to be Ruby's demise.
Yang on the other hand, managed to fare much better, making it all the way to the quarter final round before being ousted by Russel Thrush of Team Cardinal, whose exceptional Blade Dancer agility and speed proved the perfect counter to Yang's all-out offensive assault.
The girls put their losses down to a growing experience, and vowed to get even during Crucible season.
As of now, Ruby was making her way back to her quarters after going on a small shopping spree at the gun smith's. Her split of the winner's purse (2500 glimmer) afforded her plenty of primary and special ammo synth packs for her Ghost, and several spools of Sapphire Wire. She also took the opportunity to cash in her voucher for a level-white special weapon. Her weapon of choice was the Calcutta-LR2 sniper rifle. And Yang, ever the lover and perpetrator of blunt force, chose the Preacher MK.20 shotgun, a bona fide close-quarters powerhouse.
Ruby arrived at her destination and opened the door to her quarters. "I'm back!" She said, announcing her return. She found Yang in front of their full-length mirror, taking snap shots of herself with her scroll. Ruby had entered the room just in time to see Yang hastily readjusting her top. "What are you doing?" Ruby asked her.
"Oh, nothing," Yang said nonchalantly. She tapped a button on her scroll. "And...send." She turned to Ruby, beaming, "Get everything you need?"
"And how," she said. "You?"
"Hell yea." Yang scooped her newly acquired shotgun off the bed next to her and pumped the action. "Traveler, I can't wait to break someone's face with this thing!"
Just then, did both of their scrolls vibrate simultaneously. They had revived a message from their dad, Taiyang.
Great job in BT today, girls! Here's a little somethin' for ya ;)
"Fifteen hundred glimmer each!" Ruby exclaimed.
"Oh yes, we are so goin' out tonight," Yang said.
"The usual place?" Yang nodded. "He's gonna be so happy to see you."
"He always is," Yang said.
Just then, did the door swing open and in walked the third member of their team. "Guten Tag!" Did she sing.
"Hi Weiss," Ruby said.
"You two were amazing today!" Weiss said. "I saw everything on the CCN."
"How's that?" Yang questioned. "Weren't you in class?"
Weiss wagged her scroll devilishly. "I am not all work and no play," she said.
"Haha! I knew Schnee had a rebellious streak in her!"
Ruby smiled. "Speaking of play, Yang and I were going to go out to celebrate tonight. Care to come with?"
Weiss stroked her chin thoughtfully. "I do believe revelries are in order for tonight. Ja, I shall accompany the two of you."
"Well, there's a couple hours between then and now, and I'm tuckered from BT. So I don't know about you broads, but I..." And Yang flopped backwards onto her bed, amid an explosion of sheets and cushions. "...need a nap." And she was lost to the world as she fell asleep near instantly.
Ruby turned to face Weiss. "So, what are your plans for the afternoon?"
Weiss smiled forlornly. "Well, seeing as I spent almost the entirety of class watching you two, I am actually a little behind in my work. I get to spend the afternoon playing catchup."
"Aw, that sucks," Ruby pouted. "I was thinking maybe we could..." the thought died on her lips, but remained alive and well in her head. What exactly was she about to suggest? Just that she and Weiss could spend the rest of the afternoon...together. Just hanging out, you know- not...you know...together but...as a...couple- no-no-no...a pair! Just...you know...hanging out, nothing more to it than that! Just two friends and teammates...together...
It was just then that, in the direct presence of the catalyst of these harmless and definitely not romantic thoughts, did Ruby feel the room begin to shrink. Weiss's person seemed to loom larger and larger as Ruby all but shrunk into herself, suddenly unable to meet her teammate's eyes.
A tiny smile crossed the Warlock's face then. "As lovely as quality teammate time time together sounds, I really should get caught up on my work. We will have plenty of time tonight to...uh...hang out,as you say." Weiss's gaze was seemingly fixed on her toes as she added somewhat inaudibly, "I quite look forward to it..."
At that, Ruby was again able to meet Weiss's eyes, but the girl was staring determinedly at anywhere but Ruby, her lower lip clenched between her teeth.
An indeterminable amount of time passed then. It could have been seconds, it could have been weeks, but upon the span's expiration did Weiss finally say, "Well, I should be off...lots of work to do..."
Ruby only nodded.
Weiss then backed her way to the door. And right there, did it seem like the girl had forgotten how door handles work. She seemed to have some little difficulty in turning the thing the right way. Finally, she was able to engage the lock and swung the door open to make her departure.
The room expanded to it's normal size and Ruby was finally able to breathe again.
From there she removed her boots, intent on catching a nap as well. As she turned to climb into her bed she saw Yang, who Ruby thought was asleep, or at least pretending to be, staring at her, her head propped up on her arm and the widest 'mmm-hmmm' smile on her face. "What?"
Yang only smiled wider. "You two are so cute,"
Ruby groaned as she forwent her own bed and piled in next to Yang. "I wish you'd stop that," she said.
"I wish you'd start," Yang said back.
Ruby went into a little stretch where she played about with Yang's hair, giving it a few tosses and other needless adjustments. "Still kinda sucks about singles BT. I coulda done better."
"Think about what dad would say. 'Every loss can be a victory if you know how to learn from it'" Yang said, in her best imitation of their father.
This got a giggle from Ruby. "Yep, that sounds like him."
"Besides, we didn't enlist just to beat up on other Guardians. We got bigger fish to fry," Yang said.
Ruby nodded. "I already got a mission statement from Pyrrha. We're on patrol tomorrow, early afternoon."
"Where at?"
"The Steppes out in the Cosmo. We're supposed to relieve Team Cardinal."
"Well then, let's party hard tonight and work hard tomorrow!" Ruby nodded. Yang kissed Ruby on the forehead. "Let's get some rest kiddo."
...
And three hours from there were the two of them up, showered, and making their preparations for tonight's outing. Both girls were dressed for a night on the town, as it were: Ruby was dressed in a form-fitting long sleeved shirt of deep red, the sleeves stopping just passed her elbows; this over a black denim mini skirt and black pantyhose; and on her feet were glossy black high-top Doc Martin boots with red laces. The look was finished with a bright red fedora, perched adorably atop her head.
Ruby was currently sat on the edge of her bed, watching highlights from the day's BT matches on her scroll. And that's when a thought hit her.
"We were on the CCN, right?"
"Yea-huh," from Yang.
"Do you think anyone will recognize us?"
"Maybe they will, maybe they wont," Yang said. She stepped back to admire herself in the full length mirror. "All I know is I am sexy as fuuuuck!"
Yang was dressed in a bright yellow tube top mini dress, the bottom of which barely covered her thighs; over this she wore a blue denim bolero jacket, unbuttoned, and large hoop earrings. Her look was finished with thigh-high black, stiletto-heeled boots over black fishnet stockings. Yang gave her luscious yellow hair a few adjustments. "I am so gettin' laid tonight," she purred. She then snapped a selfie of her reflection.
Finished with her preparations, she turned to Ruby. "And now we await the arrival of the princess." She checked her scroll. "Doors open at nine, and it's already eight-fifteen. What's taking her?"
"She's probably used to making people wait," Ruby said. She suddenly had a mental image of Weiss at home, seated prettily in a high-backed chair as her various servants scampered about, tending to her every whim. The thought made her giggle.
And just then, as though Yang had talked her up, did the door open and Weiss made her entrance into the room. Yang immediately rounded on her. "Well it's about-" Yang took in the sight of her. "Good Traveler, Schnee, we're going to a night club, not a freakin' tea garden!"
Weiss pointed her nose in the air with a delicate 'hmph!' "A true lady will use any outing as an opportunity to look her best."
And Weiss Schnee did indeed look her best.
A gown of lovely arctic blue adorned her. Said gown was strapless, exposing the full curvature of her downy white shoulders; the skirt stopped just at her ankles, revealing her feet clad in white sling-back, peep-toe heels; the slit up the skirt's right side revealed just the right amount of leg; enough to keep you looking, but not so much as to promise anything more; she wore delicate chain earrings that were ended with plump blue sapphires; and in her hands was clutched a classy strapless purse; blue and studded with what were possibly genuine diamonds.
Ruby felt the room beginning to shrink again.
"Don't you look like a million Glimmer," Yang said somewhat sardonically.
"Two hundred and ninety-seven thousand, three hundred and seventy-six Glimmer, to be precise," Weiss replied royally.
"That's alot of money..." Ruby said in awe.
Yang huffed a breath. "At any rate, we're behind schedule here, ladies. Let's get this operation moving shall we?"
And they left the room in orderly fashion, the heels of Yang and Weiss's shoes making echoing clik-claks down the corridor. They crossed the night time plaza amid a smattering of Guardians and other non-essential personnel out at this hour. And though there weren't many heads to turn, heads did indeed turn none the less. It was here that Ruby could feel the beginnings of a silent but intense competition forming between Yang and Weiss; who could garner the most attention. Their contrasting styles of beauty going head to head; the tomboy vs. the princess.
The princess was currently winning.
Just at the end of the plaza did the trio arrive at the public shuttle stop to await the craft that would take them down into the city. There were quite the number of people at the stop already, young people much like themselves looking for a night on the town. A young man close to them in age tapped the shoulder of his buddy. "Dude look, it's Rosenkreuz," he said this in a whisper that he thought would not carry, but Ruby's incredible Hunter ears picked up every word. "Dude, they're even hotter in person than on the net!"
"Especially the red-haired girl. Her name's uh...Rudy?"
"Ruby," his friend corrected. "Ruby Rose. She's the Blade Dancer that killed that Archon."
"She's too cute to be so dangerous..."
Ruby blushed at the mention of her near legendary deed, and her apparent sex appeal.
Weiss folded her arms over her chest as she heaved a sigh. "Must we take the public tram? It always so slow, and so...public..."
"Weiss, could you stop being rich for like, two seconds," Yang said. "You're one of us commoners tonight. And we're gonna show you what a real party looks like!"
Further conversation was halted by the tram hovering into it's designated stop. The oblong craft could carry up to fifty people, but this ride was particularly empty-ish. With a tiny lurch, did the tram go into motion, flying them from the heights of The Tower and into the rabble of the City of Vale below.
After a short flight did the girls disembark, finding themselves in the heart of Vale's Red Light District, one of Yang's regular haunts. Yang lead the way down the neon-lighted streets to their destination. And just a little while from there, did they arrive.
The entrance to the place was built into the far wall of a large lot, said lot was currently flooded with potential patrons trying to gain entry, all of them young and restlessly energetic party-goers. The sign above the door, blazing in molten gold letters read: The Life Exotic. "Home sweet home!" Yang said.
Weiss gave a sigh. "But look at the line. It must be thirty minutes to get in."
Yang smiled. "Thirty minutes for these plebs, maybe," she said. "C'mon."
And so she lead the way around the line of people, many of them shooting dirty looks and "Hey's!" in their direction. At the front of the line did they find a black-suited bouncer, reading off names on a scroll in his hands. "Go ahead in." he lifted the velvet rope to allow the first three people in line entry.
Yang stepped up to the man. "Hellllloooo!" Was her sing-song greeting.
"Back of the line," the bouncer replied gruffly, not looking up from his scroll.
Yang sneered. "Are you sure it's a good idea to keep me waiting?"
The man looked up and paled visibly behind his sunglasses. "I-uh-" He fumbled with the rope. "Go right ahead," he stammered.
"Thought so," Yang said, as she sashayed her way into the building. The man made to impede the entry of Ruby and Weiss, but Yang called over her shoulder, "They're with me!" The bouncer hastily stepped out of the way.
His brush with the yellow death now behind him, the man pressed into his ear piece. "Boss...she's here!"
...
The entrance into the club's main building was through a stylishly darkened corridor of black light. There was a set of double doors at the end that Yang threw open and revealed the the belly of The Life Exotic. The space was quite enormous, and was playing host to well over one hundred people. There was currently a rave going on the dance floor; laser lights and strobes and smoke highlighted the crush of their many bodies, the electric energy from the techno rhythm spurring them into furious gyration. Ruby recognized the song as Crystal Burn:Uncut.
"First things first," Yang said. "I need to get a few drinks in me." She leered across the dance floor to the bar. "Let's go see my favorite guy."
...
Hei "Junior" Xiong was at peace. This was the kind of thing he lived for. A full-to-capacity night, lots of money to be made. And no signs of trouble. Yep, things were pretty good here. And then his ear piece crackled to life. "Boss...she's here!" His first instinct was to duck as fast as he could behind the bar. But a look around the club told him a different story. Nothing had exploded yet, and nothing was on fire. She couldn't be here. No, false alarm.
And that's when he saw her.
She was making her way across the dance floor, as in directly across, parting the crowd as she went. Her gait was one of absolute and sexually commanding confidence; her feet perfectly crossed with every step, like a supermodel down a runway; her hips swaying in perfect metronome-like sequence; and even from this distance, her eyes, sultry, and the most hypnotizing shade of purple, were deadlocked on Junior's own, and he found himself powerless to break her gaze. And topping all this off was the smirk on her face that said 'Here I come...' A thought then drifted to the front of Junior's mind, a thought he has had many times before. Though he has only met her twice before, said meetings ending in rather spectacular fashion, she managed to instill in him two distinct emotions. The first was fear. The second was...well, even at his age he still had trouble describing it. Suffice it to say that, in all his years being alive, she was utterly and without exception, the most beautiful woman that he had ever met in his life.
She also happened to be the most troublesome.
Yang approached the bar and splayed her hands on the counter."Hey you," she said. "Miss me?"
"Blondie, you're here. Why...?" Was Junior's response. He then took note of her two companions; a red head in a fedora, and a very pretty white-haired girl with the most marvelous ice-blue eyes. "And you brought friends, delightful." He looked to Yang again. "Are they as...lively as you are?"
"Oh, I got my girls on a leash," Yang said. "So long as you're on your best behavior." She looked him deep in the eye and flashed a challenging smile, "You are gonna be on you best behavior...aren't you?"
Junior did his best to ignore the phenomenon of sudden growth in his pants. "Yes...of course." he said with clenched teeth.
The blonde dragon's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Yes, what?"
A memory washed over Junior then, in alarmingly vivid detail. He remembered his most precious of all possessions being caught in the dire vice grip of this powerful Titan. He had no desire to repeat the experience. "Yes, sir!" He said hastily. The white-haired girl giggled behind her hand. His manhood thoroughly diminished, Junior heaved a sigh. "So, what'll it be, ladies?" He suddenly noticed the red-haired girl about to sit on what she thought was an empty bar stool. "Not that one," he said to her.
"Huh?"
"Just trust me," Junior said.
The girls then placed their drink orders. "You know how I like it," Yang said.
"Wild Turkey, on the rocks," Ruby said.
Weiss tapped her chin as her eyes grazed the top shelf offerings. "Ich mochte...a Vanilla Daiquiri, please."
"Schnee would like the fancy stuff," Yang said with a grin.
"Schnee!?" Junior gasped. From the look on the man's face, one would have thought that he just learned he was in the presence of royalty, which was somewhat true, the Schnee name did have that kind of power. And then he was a blur of motion, as he hastily gathered the components to mix the desired drink. When the concoction was finished, he presented the drink in a long-stemmed wine glass to it's patron, taking the utmost of care no spill a single drop.
Weiss took the glass in an elegant left-handed grip, clearly the girl had handled wine glasses before. She took a tiny lady-like sip and smacked her lips daintily. Poor Junior seemed to be on pins and needles as he awaited her verdict. Weiss smiled then. "Not bad," she said. "Almost as good as what Klein makes at home."
"Thank you very much," Junior said, the relief palpable on his face.
"And what will the charge be?"
"Oh, no charge for you Miss Schnee," Junior said with a bow.
"Sehr gut," the German heiress said.
From there, Ruby and Yang were served their own drinks, and Ruby proposed a toast between the three of them. "To success in our future as Guardians!"
"Here, here!" Yang said. They raised their glasses and drank to the prospect.
As they finished, Yang said, "After a little bit of liquid courage, it's time to dance girls, c'mon!" She lead the way into the electric rabble.
Ruby slid off her stool, "Coming, Weiss?" She asked.
"In these shoes? I'm afraid not," Weiss responded with a smile.
Ruby shrugged and joined her sister and the mob on the dance floor.
Nights like these were a rare occasion in which Ruby managed to overcome, and all but forget about her inhibitions of meeting new people. It was the spur of the moment that carried her away. She had long since lost Yang in the crowd of dancers, but that didn't concern her in the least. She found herself dancing with a young man in a mesh tank top and leather pants. She had no idea who this guy was, but she was having way too much fun to care. She presented her back to him and he took the invitation and circled his arms around her waist. They danced through the entire song in this way, their bodies twisting and rolling together in uniform and wave-like motions.
The song ended and the young man let Ruby go(although a little hesitantly). Ruby traced her way back to the bar where Weiss was sitting. The girl was sitting neatly on her stool, her legs crossed right over left, jingling her foot to the beat of the music. "Having fun out there?" She asked Ruby.
"And how!" Ruby responded. The girl looked exhilarated, and just a bit short of breath. "Oh, I'm a little sweaty..." Ruby took her fedora in her left hand and fanned herself with it. As Weiss watched her, she became particularly and rather intensely interested in a singular bead of sweat that was rolling down the girl's neck. It trickled down the hollow of her throat and eventually soaked into the deep-cut collar of her shirt.
Weiss took a rather large sip of her drink then.
Yang soon made her way from the out of the crowd, flushed and somewhat breathless. "Yo, Xiong!" She said. "Anuda round, and double it up. One fer me, and one fer muh lady..." She jerked her head at a girl that was standing just on the perimeter of the dance floor, her eyes wholly focused on Yang.
'Oh, Traveler she's getting tipsy' Ruby thought with a laugh. Yang only started talking like that when she had just a wee bit too much to drink. Not quite drunk, but definitely getting there. Her two new drinks in hand, did Yang turn to make her way back from the dance floor, however, the heel of her left boot caught the leg of the stool directly next to her, throwing her off balance. In her attempt to regain her footing, did her arms flail rather sharply, sending the contents of her glasses to splash across the counter.
"Traveler dammit!" Said a voice apparently from out of nowhere.
And suddenly, as though by materialization, did a man appear on the stool next to Ruby. He stood up swiftly, and did a bodily inventory on the damage the spilled liquid may have had on his clothing.
Ruby was alarmed at the man's sudden appearance. Just where the hell had he come from!? Ruby suddenly remembered Junior telling her not to sit on that particular stool. Now she understood why. Ruby gave him a look over. He wasn't quite dressed as the rest of the club goers were; in garments of 'barely there' this and 'revealing' that, but in something more of a classical, or reserved sense. He wore a somewhat simple black trench coat with red and white markings. His slacks and boots were also black. But most notable about the man, was his clear Faunus heritage, as he had two black horns sprouting form his head. The man also wore a somewhat bizarre mask over his face, or was it a visor, or both? Either way, it hid his eyes completely. Ruby got the distinct feeling that his eyes were not day's work to look into.
Ruby again pondered the question about just where he had appeared from so suddenly. Junior's earlier warning lead her to believe that he had been there the whole time, but...no... Ruby knew that there was only one kind of people who could become invisible at will. She stayed this thought as she watched the scene play out before her.
"Oh, shit, my bad," Yang said to the man.
"Yeah, you're bad alright, bad at walking," the man replied gruffly. "Tell me, are you always so uncoordinated, or only when you're this drunk?" The man gave Yang a slow up and down look. "Nice boots by the way. Bet you got guys lined up around the block begging you to walk on them."
"What, you wanna get walked on?" Yang said, setting her two glasses on the counter. "Cuz I can arrange that."
Junior had walked over by then, intent on diffusing the tension. Easy now, Taurus. You don't wanna rile this one up."
'Taurus...' Ruby thought. The name was immediately familiar to her, though she couldn't quite pin down from where she knew it.
"Oh I know exactly what I'm getting into with this one," Taurus said. A smile; a sneer formed on his face then. "Yang Xiao Long. The Sun's little Dragon..." he said this very slowly, as though he were tasting the sound of each word. "I saw you on the CCN earlier today, and I must admit you made something of an impression on me." He paused here again, a somewhat cruel relish evident in his widening smile. "As beautiful as you are ferocious..."
"What you saw was just the start. There's plenty more where that came from," Yang said.
"And I believe it," Adam said. "I am quite interested to know just how much more you do have..."
Yang turned her body sideways as she put up her guard. "You can find out right now."
A small crowd of on lookers had formed at this point, one of them could sense the excitement of an imminent clash between these two. "Holy shit, Rosenkreuz and Red Wing are about to throw down!" And several scroll cameras came to life.
Something fired in Ruby's mind then. This man was Taurus, Adam Taurus! Of Fireteam Red Wing! That was uncle Qrow's team! Ruby remembered what she had heard about them, about how they were considered to be, without question, the most dangerous Guardian Fireteam ever assembled. It was then that Ruby had deduced that he was a Blade Dancer, hence his prior invisibility. Which meant he had to have been here long before Ruby and her team had arrived. But what kind of Blade Dancer could possibly hold their camo for such an absurd amount of time?
The man Adam laughed at this juncture. "While I don't doubt you've plenty to offer, little dragon, now is not the time or place for it." There was another pause from him. "The Crucible will open not too long from now, and when we do meet in the fires of battle, I will absolutely relish the opportunity to put you in the ground."
Yang's eyes widened slightly. "Is that a threat?" She whispered dangerously.
Adam sneered. "I don't make threats, little dragon...only promises." And on that grim note did he turn and leave the scene.
"Hey! I'm not done with you, asshole!" Yang made to give the man chase, but her path was impeded by several black-suited bouncers that had converged on the site of the disturbance. "Get outta my way, dammit!"
"That's enough outta you!" One of the bouncers barked. "Keep that up and you're outta-"
The man never finished his sentence, the heel of Yang's boot saw to that. He was sent careening across the space and landed on the dance floor. Yang, despite her slightly drunken state, was maintaining a very disciplined martial artist's posture; balanced perfectly on just her left foot did she retract her right leg used to deliver the kick, coiling it back in position to deliver another. From this elegant one-legged stance did she say, "Anyone else wanna taste my stiletto?"
The bouncers accepted this challenge and charged her. Yang then became a blinding blur of perfectly delivered precision kicks that soon saw the mob dispatched.
Another wave of bouncers was closing in on her. "I'm tired of playin' footie; time to throw some hands!" The bouncers seemed hesitant to engage her at this juncture, simply forming a perimeter around her.
Yang turned to face the man nearest to her. "Yo dawg, I heard you like hand cannons!" There was a flash of Blue as her Ghost transmatted her shot gauntlets into being. "So I put some cannons on my hands, to show you why my hands are canon!" She then delivered a colossal strait-armed punch to his chest, the man was sent flying across the room and crashed through a standing pillar.
He may have been dead...I'm not sure.
Junior had ducked behind the bar at this point as his bouncers were soon flying in every conceivable direction. "No, no, no, not again!" He looked upwards to a second story landing above him. "Melanie, Militia, get down here!"
The twin Blade Dancers in question were resting rather serenely on their little balcony here. Melanie was sitting on a small chair filing her nails. Upon hearing the commotion and Junior's yell, did she look down at the scene. She noticed a very familiar curtain of yellow hair at it's epicenter, and shuddered just slightly at the memory of her previous encounter with its owner. "Mmm, no. That's not a question I need answered."
"Ditto," said her twin.
Junior was at a loss. He knew there was nothing he could do to stop this girl when she got going full tilt, and his best bouncers refused to help. He was going to have to take matters into his own hands.
Or so he thought.
Her path now clear of the bouncers, Yang espied Adam on the other end of the room. Apparently, he had hung around to watch the show. She was going to make him regret it. She took a running start and then used her Titan lift to propel herself up towards the ceiling. "Oh Boy," Ruby said. She recognized this posture anywhere. The Fist of Havoc was on the way. Ruby was sure to focus her scroll camera on the airborne form of Yang to best capture the moment.
Yang's body exploded in a fireball of Solar energy and then she launched herself at her target, which happened to be Adam. The man seemed to be in no great distress at Yang's rocket-like approach, he seemed almost casually ignorant to her altogether. But then, when the moment of impact was at its most imminent, did Adam react.
In a singular movement quicker than anyone could blink, did he draw an enormous sword. And in an instant possibly faster than it's draw, did he strike. But he did not strike Yang directly as she flew into him, he slashed at the empty air just between her and the impact zone. And in a shocked instant, did all of Yang's furious momentum suddenly dissipate, as though she had slammed headfirst into a brick wall. Yang was sent sprawling backwards onto her back. "What the hell...?" she muttered.
A sphere of glassine blue Arc energy had surrounded Adam's being. He looked down at Yang now from his superior standing position. He gave the great sword in his hand an expert twirl and rested the blade on his shoulder. "This is Bolt Caster," He said. "And due to your inability to penetrate it's Arc-forged guard, you have been spared the taste of it's blade." Even from here, Ruby swore she could hear the narrowing of the man's eyes behind his mask. "You're lucky I don't down you where you lie." He paused here again. "Take this lesson to heart, little dragon. Don't fuck with me." And he turned and left the building.
And Yang was left there on the floor, trembling in disbelief and defeat. Ruby and Weiss rushed to her. "Are you alright?" Ruby asked her.
"Yeah...I'm fine," Yang said, although she sounded anything but.
Then a new sound rang across the space. "Alright, everybody out! Place is closed!" Junior had seen enough and was closing his doors before any more insanity could take place. "Let's go, move it! Ouuttt!"
Everyone was herded out of the building rather orderly despite the high levels of excitement running through it's occupants. "Dude, did you get he footage!?"
"Every second of it!"
"I am so uploading this to the net!"
Out in the lot did the girls rendezvous. "Well, I think we all can agree that was an eventful evening," did Weiss say, the biggest smile on her face. "We should do this more often!"
The girls shared a laugh. Just then did Yang spot someone in the crowd over Weiss's shoulder. It was the hot red haired girl she had spent the night dancing with. She was bobbing up and down on her toes, her eyes on Yang. She looked like she wanted to approach her, but seemed reluctant to do so. "Hey Ruby, you gonna be alright tonight by yourself?"
Ruby nodded. "I can manage."
"Don't wait up for me, I proly won't be home until morning."
Ruby saw where this was going and giggled. "Don't wear yourself out, we've got the patrol mission in the afternoon."
"Right, right," Yang said. She kissed Ruby's forehead. "Call me if anything comes up." And she went to join her very possible lady of the evening.
"Doesn't miss a beat does she?" Weiss said with raised eyebrows.
"Nope," Ruby said. "She never stops never stopping." She gave the time on her scroll a glance. "We should head home; get some rest."
"Good idea," Weiss concurred.
And so the two of them walked their way back to the public tram stop. They spent the entire flight back watching and re-watching the footage Ruby captured on her scroll of Yang's fight with the bouncers, laughing hysterically the whole time. They disembarked back on the familiar grounds of The Tower's plaza, now all but truly empty given the time of night. Ruby and Weiss made their way downstairs and into the corridor of their respective quarters.
Down this home stretch of sorts, did Weiss slow her pace, her steps shortening considerably. Upon their arrival at Ruby's door did they turn to face each other. "Tonight was alot of fun," Weiss said.
Ruby nodded. "Yeah, but the fun's over, it's back to business tomorrow."
"Ja..." Weiss said.
"But tonight was freakin' awesome though!"
The girls shared a laugh that eventually melted into a somewhat awkward silence. In the span of this silence did the girls have nothing to do or say really, each of them not wanting to be the first to say good night. But then suddenly did Weiss's gaze steady on Ruby's own. And that's when it hit her. That's when Ruby realized...
Just how alone they were together.
Ordinarily this wasn't a problem, or rather, it wouldn't be. But wait...when did this start becoming problem? Well not a problem really, but more of a...what, exactly? Ruby's head began to swim with all those hasty rationalizations as to why she couldn't think strait in situations like these.
But wait...situations like what? Like...when she was alone with Weiss? When had she ever been alone with Weiss? Like...alone alone with Weiss. Not ever really...
But she was now...
Ruby had all but given up on her fleeting ability to form coherent thoughts at that point. She was aware of Weiss, and only Weiss. Aware of how radiant her gorgeous diamond-white hair was under this artificial light; aware of her reflective eyes of the clearest and iciest blue slowly drifting closer...and closer...and closer...
But then at once those beautiful eyes had retracted back to their original distance; their owner's face a burning mask of crimson. Weiss waffled on the spot, clearly in something of an indecisive panic. "Es tut mir Leid," She said quickly. And she departed down the corridor at top speed.
Ruby was left there on the spot, trying her best to swallow her heart back down her throat. She meant to turn and open the door, but her legs simply would not respond to the command of movement that she gave them. It felt like more than an hour passed before she was up to the task of any movement at all. She managed to swing the door open and step inside. She got as far as removing her boots before she melted onto her bed.
She grabbed her extra pillow and clutched it tightly to her chest, it's downy confines serving to temper the chaotic beating of her heart. Sleep did not come quickly, but when it finally did take her, she was able to utter a single word before surrendering to it's grip "Weiss..."
...
*End of Legend 15*
...
A/N:
Sweet baby Jesus, I've been gone too long. Yall probably thought I forgot about yall or something. Things have been kind of busy as of late, but they've finally calmed down enough to allow me some writing time. So here's the long overdue update, yay!
On another note, I've noticed something rather stupid in my writing pattern as of late. While I don't make spelling errors, I make grammatical errors of another sort. There are times when I just strait up leave a word out of a sentence, throwing the whole sentence off entirely. I only notice these AFTER I upload the damn chapters, and I go back and read over what I posted and I absolutely CRINGE every time I come across these errors of mine. This damn chapter is more than likely loaded with them too. So do me a favor, if a sentence looks weird because I left a word out, point it out to me, it'll spur me on to avoid such stupid mistakes in the future.
And lastly, a big thank you to the faves and followers, and reviewers of my story here. Here's hoping I get some more when this story floats back up to the top! Be back another time...in another place...
-B.D. Skunkworks