What had started as sweet, intimate, and quiet had quickly turned sour as the night wore on. Yang hated when she lost control of how she presented herself to the world… and so, she hated seeing friends face similar situations where they were no longer capable of presenting themselves as they desired. Corsac- eternally calm, composed, and mostly silent- was anything but by the time that Yang had begun tending to his wounds. Part of it was simply the painful nature of cleaning them out, and perhaps an equal part was due to Yang's lack of skill in the medical field. Either way, the blonde couldn't help but feel horrible for the obvious pain she was causing the man.

The moment Yang had tried to pack one of the wounds on his chest, the huntress had found out that the process was far more involved than she had anticipated. Soaking gauze, gently holding open the wound, carefully stuffing the material into the gap- none of it was anything Yang had experience with, and doing it with a single hand only made the difficulties associated with the task worse. It was when Corsac finally let out a cry of pain rather than a hiss that Yang finally paused her efforts, feeling absolutely awful about the entire situation.

"Fuck, I'm sorry," Yang offered, cringing as she bit her lower lip. Upon looking down, she found Corsac gripping the edge of the nearby countertop at an awkward angle, his knuckles white. "It's really that bad?"

"Do you sincerely believe I would put on a show otherwise?" Corsac asked, a bit of bite in his tone. "You're jamming your fingers into an open wound and spreading it. Yes, it is that bad. It was… similarly awful at the hospital. It isn't you. Proceed."

"Are you sure we shouldn't take a break?" Yang asked, almost more for herself than the faunus.

"Proceed," Corsac ordered, eyes closed. "The packing is almost done, is it not?"

"…about halfway," Yang said with a sigh. "Try to hold still, and I'll… be as gentle as I can be. Tomorrow, maybe we should ask if someone else can do this? I don't want to hurt you and I'm just going off a webpage for instructions…"

"It's fine," Corsac insisted as Yang once again pushed into his wound, earning a hiss. "The only one I would expect to have medical experience would be Harriet, due to the nature of her job…"

"Then I'll ask her tomorrow," Yang resolved as she gave the gauze a bit of a push into the wound. Corsac sucked in a breath, and Yang braced her hand upon the man's stomach beneath the opening to pause for a moment. "I mean, we could also make a call. Maybe have Raven bring Marrow on over to check you out before we leave…"

"About that," Corsac cut in, opening his eyes and speaking in a firm tone. "I believe we need to do as much as we can without her, useful though her Semblance may be. She's likely already on Salem's radar as a priority target. If word gets out that we're relying on her for so much, then she, and we will be in great danger. Summoning her Semblance over something so frivolous as my wounds is a bad idea."

"…you're a lot more direct when in pain," Yang pointed out as she finished the wound packing and began to tape down a medicated pad over it.

"I am always direct. I'm just more… or I suppose, I am less comforting and patient at the moment," Corsac explained as he finally removed his hand from the counter. "My apologies, but the point stands. I am also willing to take you up on that break, now…"

"You've got it," Yang agreed as she stood up from her kneeling position before Corsac and cracked her neck. "Chill for a second. We're basically done anyway, I just have to wrap your gauze."

"Indeed," Corsac replied as he put his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. "May I ask you a question? One that is perhaps… uncomfortable?"

"Shoot," Yang offered as she put her hand on her hip. "What's on your mind?"

"Raven," Corsac said contemplatively. "You… hardly ever call her your mother, if at all. Is there bad blood lingering between the two of you?"

Yang stiffened and ran her hand through her hair, doing everything she could to avoid Corsac's eyes.

"…yeah, and I don't know if I've ever called her 'Mom' in front of you or the others. I… listen, I don't want to talk about what she did to me. Not tonight. I'm tired, and already in a shitty mood after all this."

"Very well, but I wasn't asking to try to get details," Corsac explained as he looked up at Yang. "I was asking because I noticed the pattern in your speech, and… you may want to consider speaking to her in earnest when she comes to deliver your arm. Time to do so may be running out, and we both know how valuable family can be… as well as how easy such a fact is to overlook until they are gone."

"…fuck," Yang cursed under her breath. "I know you're right, but at the same time… it's complicated. Very complicated. I wouldn't mind talking through it with you, maybe tomorrow, but I'm exhausted, you're hurt, everything sucks…"

"Everything does not suck," Corsac protested as Yang went for the roll of gauze. "I feel closer to you after tonight. That, at least, is good."

"It is, but I feel shitty for doing a shoddy job on your wounds," Yang admitted. "So yeah, right now, everything does kinda suck, especially now that you've got me thinking about Raven. And family. And Ruby again, by extension…"

"That was not my intention," Corsac lamented as he lifted his arms to let Yang begin wrapping him with gauze. "Perhaps we should just turn in for the night, and I should keep my mouth shut."

"We should, and you shouldn't," Yang advised as she secured the gauze. "Wait here for a minute, though? Let me go and get something to help you."

"Very well," Corsac said curiously as he tilted his head and Yang left the room.

A few minutes passed before a blond entered the bathroom once again… though it wasn't the one that Corsac expected.

"Jaune…?"

"Hey," the sleepy huntsman said before stifling a yawn and entering the small bathroom. "Yang got me up. I might be able to make you heal faster with my Semblance… at least a little. C'mon."

Corsac tensed slightly as he took the offered hand and rose to a standing position. A slight tingle worked its way through the man's skin as Jaune's Semblance engaged, mingling with and subtly bolstering the faunus' aura.

"I do not wish to put strain upon you," Corsac warned as Jaune led him out into the bedroom. "We all need rest."

"We do," Yang agreed from her position beside the bed. "So, no stress, no pressure. The three of us just share a bed and Jaune does his thing passively until he falls asleep. Easy enough?"

"Easy enough," Jaune agreed with another yawn, keeping a grip on Corsac's hand. "Let's get settled, get comfortable, and just take care of each other."

"And you are fine with this?" Corsac asked as he sat on the edge of the mattress. "With both Yang and I, together?"

Jaune sat next to the man as Yang flopped onto the mattress from the other side and scooted closer to the center.

"Yeah, sure. If you mean what I think you mean, though… I'm too tired to think about it right now, but my first instinct is to just go with it. Things have been so weird and stressful lately the idea of the three of us just doing whatever feels right doesn't sound like a bad idea to me. We should probably talk about it more soon, but… yeah. You're both great, so let's do this and not think about it too hard. I'm practically falling asleep again already."

Corsac and Yang exchanged a brief look before the faunus shifted his weight and moved toward the center of the bed. Yang was quick to cuddle up to his side beneath the covers, and Jaune took up position opposite of her. The result was a trio of bodies held close together under the blankets, all staring up at the ceiling in silence for several minutes on end. Eventually, Corsac put his arms around Yang and Jaune's shoulders, keeping them close as he closed his eyes.

"…both of you guys are always so warm," Yang commented as she rested her head upon Corsac's shoulder. "Jealous."

"Don't make it weird," Jaune complained. "Although it's kinda inevitable, all things considered…"

"Is 'weird' really so bad?" Corsac dared to ask. "After all, look at the composition of the rest of this group sent to potentially save Remnant- a legendary Maiden who also happens to be a turncoat special forces agent, a former street thief and academy student, another ex-White Fang member with similar experiences, and a former enemy incapable of speaking. If we can make that larger group work, then what stands in the way of the three of us making this work?"

"I do like weird," Yang agreed. "Jaune's right, though. Tomorrow… let's finally stop beating around the bush and talk this whole thing between the three of us out, whatever it is. We've got a bit of downtime, and we don't know when the next opportunity will be. Might as well use it for something productive… and then I'll call Raven."

"Call her first," Corsac advised. "The two of us can wait."

"Maybe," Yang considered. "Maybe it would be best to get the shitty obligation out of the way first…"

Lil' Miss Malachite stood outside of her luxury tent, staring up at the sky in contempt for what felt like hours. After her exchange with Blake, she had indeed decided to wait for the Black Claw before moving on Argus… though given how long it was taking for them to arrive, the woman almost considered abandoning the plan entirely. The more she thought about Salem and the warnings given by Blake and Daisuke, the less the potential lien involved seemed to glimmer in her mind. Riches weren't worth death… and Lil' Miss generally only moved when her pursuits were practically guaranteed to turn a profit. The caravan was close enough to Argus to smell the smoke from the city far below… but far enough away that the scent of the shoreline and associated trade routes was entirely absent.

Just as the criminal baroness turned to go and address her second in command, a collection of lights suddenly manifested in the sky over the nearby mountains.

A huge collection of lights, far beyond what the woman had expected to see.

The Black Claw fleet was made up of nearly thirty airships, each capable of holding somewhere between fifty and two hundred. It appeared that the entire population of Kuo Kuana and then some had taken to the skies to lend support, led by a massive cruiser. A wall of noise announced the arrival of the reinforcements, and the majority of the Draglines still in their tents emerged to behold the spectacle as the leading ship maneuvered to land in the snowfield beyond the camp. Lil' Miss Malachite was first to stomp her way through the snow, unsure of exactly what she would find. The portly woman was given pause as the side door of the airship slid open and Kali Belladonna strode out clad in a long white puffy jacket with a black fur collar.

"Evening," the huntress lilted with a fanged smile. "You must be Malachite. We're the cavalry. Let's get moving."

"Now hold on just a minute," Lil' Miss Malachite protested as she put her hands on her hips, a pair of armed goons arriving at her back. "I'll be callin' the shots, here. This is my operation- my idea to save the city, an-"

"And no one gives a single shit," Amaya finished, walking into view from behind Kali and spreading her wings threateningly. "We're here to save people- not to fight for credit for doing so. The longer we argue, the more people die, and that's a fact. We go now."

"Agreed," Kali chimed in with a look at her subordinate. "Are you ready?"

Lil' Miss Malachite let out a grumble of annoyance and shook her head.

"…right before she left, Blake gave me a warning. The girl said we should wait until someone's got eyes on Salem before making a move since she's fit to be tied, currently. Apparently, if we go in there an' she's still around… none of us make it out alive. I ain't lookin' to die out here."

Amaya threw up her hands and let out a sigh of annoyance.

"Fine. Then we get a staging ground established here, work out a supply line, and start looking at maps to coordinate an attack."

"And I'll try to get through to Ironwood to see who has intel on Salem," Kali announced. "It's going to be a long night…"

Author's Note:

And so ends a 'day' that took something like 25 chapters…

-RD