"Oooaahhh!"
Blinking, observing Blake as she was distracted by all the blinking lights in the machinery, Naruto tilted his head. Her condition bothered him. Even with his Yin-Yang release, she was still in a state like this. It was similar to Ruby or Velvet when he first picked her up.
So why had she recovered during the seven years while Ruby and Blake were like this? It didn't make any sense.
But it gave him hope that there was a chance they would be able to recover. Trivia had found Ruby nearby where he had found Velvet in the Void. So if she was inflicted with the same thing that caused this to them… Meant that whatever happened was reversible.
"She gonna be okay in here, Pietro?" Naruto winced as Blake swatted at the lights, much like a cat, before gazing at the man in his mechanized wheelchair.
"If I need help, Thumbelina is nearby to assist, and Raven always comes by to check on Ruby." Pietro shook his head, focusing on the computer monitor connected to Ruby's pod. "And if I'm desperate enough… I suppose I can call on her."
Raven scowled as she stood in the back of the room, biting back a comment. The jab stung, but she stayed silent outside of a scoff and turned her attention to focus on Blake. If she were in here alone with the man, she would have. But with him in here? She knew better.
He was one of the few people she had any respect for. And his strength…
"Oh, interesting." Pietro mused, pushing up his small set of glasses as he turned to look over at Blake. "Yes, I don't think there is any problem with her being around. …For the first time in years, I'm seeing new activity. And that cannot be a coincidence."
"So it is as we expected…" Raven muttered, head sinking momentarily before her eyes fluttered weakly toward Ruby. "So we just need to find where the Schnee is…"
"Then we can begin figuring out how to save your sister."
Sitting on a sand-eroded bench in the town square that once was Beacon's courtyard, Velvet blankly watched people walk through the shaded market with canvases blocking the sunlight from the sun above. Made the temperature tolerable.
But hardly any of this was what she dwindled upon. Her mind kept wandering to what she saw in the Health Centre. To Blake… To Ruby.
What was the Flash? Why was she still here? Why was anyone still here? How did any of them survive when so many people perished on that fateful day?
And what happened to her friends? Why had they become the way they were? Why was Blake… Infantile in manner? Why was and how was Ruby unconscious for the last seven years?
Why did she wake up if she was found in a similar condition to Ruby?
Everything didn't make sense to Velvet. She knew her group failed. Salem took Oscar from them.
Did that mean that Ruby's group against Cinder failed?
"What are you doing out here sitting out in the heat?" A familiar voice drew her from her thoughts. Turning slightly to see Trivia with a hand on her hip, gawking at her, hopping on the other side of the bench, and stretching out. "No one uses the benches anymore. Even in the shade, it is boiling out here. Why are you out here instead of somewhere, ya know, inside where it is at least not melting?"
"I could ask the same." Velvet's brow raised at the strange woman as she joined her on the bench. "If you are out here, aren't you heading somewhere?"
"To grab him, drag him to bed, and fuck 'em!"
Velvet choked on her own spit and gagged. Her entire face went beet red at the mere mention of sex casually. She wasn't ignorant, but to be this open about it?!
"I got plenty of time to kill. Man doesn't know how to stop working and take a break, so ya gotta force him to take one! Even if it means I pull him down and ride him senseless!" Trivia manically grinned after containing her cackle, leaning her arms back and popping and rolling her shoulders. Her eyes glinted with amusement, loving Velvet's reaction as she stared at her with a jaw agape, horrified expression. "And when he decides to give back, oh, I get the best gift of all! Especially when he puts me down and takes me… Too much for ya?"
Velvet could only nod. Her face felt like it was about to pop from all the blood rushing to it! She had never been so embarrassed!
"I—uh—see?" Velvet fumbled over her words, her chin tucked into her chest, her face vividly bright as a tomato.
Trivia laughed at her embarrassment much to her ire, it slowly faded. Her thoughts drifted toward a sunshine blonde she knew, her eyes glistening recalling him and what could have been. Velvet lightly smiled despite being unable to look into Trivia's gaze. "I'm glad you found someone like that… Finding someone like that in these times… I'm genuinely happy for you."
"Huh?" Trivia scrunched her face and leaned back. "What are you talking about? We don't have a relationship like that. Sure, we fuck, and I'm not gonna give that up even if he finds someone; they're going to have to deal with it. But I'm not fucking him because I love him. I fuck him as he's important to me, and we need stress relief!"
Velvet began to choke. Her eyes bulged, and her face somehow turned a brighter red. She didn't understand at all! Sex was the most intimate form of showing one their love. Yet…
"What? How? Isn't…" Velvet, her cheek burning, struggled to meet Trivia's gaze as she stumbled over her words.
Trivia simply squinted. With a heavy sigh, she gazed up at the canopy and toward the sky. "What we have is not about love. I do not and will not love anyone again. No one can ever replace Roman in my heart… He comes close… He acknowledges me for me… So I show him my affection for that, but I won't ever grow attached to him like I did for Roman. If something happens and he disappears… I don't want to feel that emptiness ever again. It led me down a dark path that I regret ever going on… What I did to Ruby in that world… Was unforgivable."
Listening to Trivia, Velvet gazed at Trivia as she spoke. She didn't know much about her before, outside that she was apparently a criminal in Vale and took part in the Fall of Beacon.… She just kind of showed up right before the end, just like Ruby and her friends showed up after being gone for six months before all hell fell onto Vacuo.
Velvet knew she didn't trust her back then. Her entire team had an issue with her for participating in what had happened. But now… There seemed to be something more to her. A reason why she…
She reflectively winced after Trivia mentioned Ruby. Her thoughts and worries returned, and her frame slumped over. The rest of what Trivia said was lost upon her. Ruby…
Trivia noticed Velvet's withdrawal, and her expression softened. "Oh… You've seen her. …That's why you are out here, down in the dumps. Can't blame ya."
Velvet flinched but nodded. Gazing at the sands below, she closed her eyes and sighed. "Yeah… Seeing how she and Blake are now… And how I am okay… It has me thinking."
Exhaling, glancing at Velvet, Trivia sat forward and gazed at the sandy market. "Yeah, I can understand that. How are any of us here when, of all people, that should… It makes you question the fairness in it all. If anyone should have a chance to shape this new world… It's her. "
Feeling the clench in her stomach, Velvet couldn't help but nod. Ruby was the one who told everyone what was wrong… Fought against it before they all knew what was happening. Tried to save Mantle and Atlas.
"But…" Trivia's voice quivered for a moment before she took a deep breath. "I know she's gonna get that chance… I have to believe that."
"What makes you think that?" Velvet gloomy gazed forward. "She's been like that for seven years… Blake, too, although I don't know how she survived if she was like that."
"That's a great question. One that I would like to find out for myself. Something or someone had to be looking out for her." Trivia winced, recalling how Blake responded when she first found her and the refugees from the caravan. "As for what makes me believe she and Ruby will see this world and find a way to change it…"
"They've never stopped fighting." A small smile graced Trivia's features as she looked up once more. Velvet turned and saw a sparkle of hope in her eyes before she shook her head. "I've seen what they could do… What they could take. They are still alive, so I know that somewhere in there… They are both fighting. …So we have to keep fighting too. I won't rest until I have a chance to redeem myself in her eyes. This fight may be long, but to show her what I can do, I'll find that Schnee and bring her here."
"Then we can figure out how to separate that witch out of her sister."
Naruto sighed at the two people gathered in his office, tensely staring one another down. The two of them could not get along.
Robyn and Glynda had a strained relationship. They disagreed on many issues and struggled to maintain a relationship.
The biggest one was the lack of manpower and wishing to have much younger children in the settlement go through the Huntsman course. Glynda obviously opposed this measure from Robyn, so a compromise was met that they both agreed with.
So, a younger age was set, but one that Glynda was comfortable with. Even then, she didn't like it, but considering most would only be guards, she accepted it.
Only those he trusted became scouts, and Captain Bree was very selective on who went outside into the Wastes when they were called to act as reinforcements to the scouts… So no one that wasn't ready would be leaving the Settlement.
Still, the women had an active dislike for one another. Probably due to their egos and Alpha mindsets… Which explained why they both had issues with Raven.
"Sandstorms are generating more frequently at an abnormal rate." Robyn scowled, her gaze shifting to Glynda momentarily while placing her hand on her hip. "This frequency cannot be a coincidence. Either there is another terrestrial shift in the planet is about to take place… Or someone is aware of our presence here."
Glynda's eyes sharpened, and a deep frown adorned her features. However, before she could say anything, Naruto sighed and shook his head. "If you are suggesting who I think you are, I highly doubt it. She's still trapped in the Void from Raven's intel. If she is somehow controlling a spell of that nature from where she is, it would be extraordinarily difficult in her current condition. And I would have sensed any abnormal negative energy within the Sandstorms beyond the Nyghtmares within them."
Narrowing her eyes at the explanation, Robyn gritted her teeth before exhaling. "So we're dealing with a shift in the environment… How much more can we deal with? If she does escape the Void…"
"We are prepared if she does. She is no longer our main concern… Her apprentice is." Glynda shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. "We must adapt to our new world. That we still have an atmosphere and oxygen is a blessing. The damages it withstood from the Flash and what our world has become… We are lucky to be alive."
"That's one thing we agree on," Robyn muttered, massaging her temple before placing a small device on his desk. "This is the full report of our survey. The temperature has been rising steadily. Oxygen has been decreasing…"
With a ring. All attention turned to the elevator, the doors open and heterochromatic bored into cerulean as a petite figure marched toward them. Naruto chuckled as Trivia marched directly toward him with passion burning in her eyes. "Ah, I'm kind of busy."
"No, you are not." Trivia snatched his wrist and dragged Naruto out of his chair and to the elevator. "You are taking a break, and you are going to break me, understand? I will accept no less."
"You make it difficult to say no…" Naruto grimaced, eyes flickering with desire before he glanced back to his desk. "But I really do…"
"Then you are taking me on the desk!"
"Yeah, we're done here." Robyn, shaking her head rapidly in alarm, stared in terror at the small frame of Trivia manhandling Naruto. "The report can wait! We can handle things while you are out!"
"See!" Trivia pulled a helpless Naruto into the elevator as the doors shut behind them. But that did not stop Glynda and Robyn from hearing what was next. "They got this! Now unbuckle!"
"Here! Seriously! Can you wait a second?!"
"Is my ass bouncing? Then the answer is no!"
As the elevator rang and began to descend, Glynda and Robyn shared a glance before the latter spoke, her face flushed. "Who do those two function together? They're complete opposites."
"You'd be surprised…" Glynda groaned as she palmed her face, glancing at the elevator before sighing. "She's basically his handler…"
"Otherwise, he would burn himself out."
"Oh, you're back already?" Harriet, fully dressed in a dusted uniform, sheathing her knuckles on her back.
"Yeah… Still getting used to the changes here." Velvet's ears curled, wincing as she tried to keep her mind off what she had seen today.
Frowning, seeing the visible distress her new roommate was in, Harriet's gaze lingered on Velvet as she moved through the room sluggishly. She could tell she was shy from her interactions when they met yesterday afternoon before she headed out. But then again, Trivia could be a very uncomfortable person to be around…
She had no boundaries…
But Harriet could tell something was off with Velvet. She could see something was bothering her…
"Say," Harriet addressed Velvet, placing a hand on her hip. "If you aren't doing anything, I could show you around the guard headquarters and what a night shift is like. We could always use someone with your skills to keep the settlement safe… We need everyone we can get…"
"And you won't have to deal with Trivia all the time if you join us instead of the scouts."
Everything felt so foreign… Was this a soft bed? They hadn't slept on something this comfortable in forever. No... Since before all of this happened.
Narrowing her golden eyes, scanning through the darkness, she frowned at her surroundings. She didn't understand. This looked like some sort of laboratory. Something she would have seen back home… What is this? Where are we? Blake… Where have you taken us? This can't be safe…
"Oooaaahh? Oohh… Oah!"
What do you mean… Hey, don't take control! I'm trying to keep us… What are you pointing… Ruby? What is wrong with her? How did we get here? How long was I asleep? Ugh, I didn't mean to waste so much energy when I took control the last time. We have to free her and get out of here…
"Blake? Are you okay? Do you need something?" A voice she recognized, causing her to shiver and close her eyes as the lights came on.
She froze at the visage of the person who stood before her, glancing worriedly at her. The last time she saw this woman and interacted with her… She sounded so different. Then again… She wasn't in a cage this time.
"Here," The woman she recognized as Yang's mother handed her a cup of water, attempting to help guide her to drink. "I can get you something to eat…"
"We're fine." She winced as she saw the woman stumble as she spoke, their dual voices resonating as she spoke for her. Repressing a sigh as the woman looked at her in horrified amazement, she lowered her head. "Yes… I am here as well. I don't know what happened but after the Flash."
"Our minds and souls fused, and we have been stuck like this ever since."
R & R. Follow on Ao3 for more consistent updates.