Yo!
Not a ton to say atm, so let's just get into it!
Start Chapter 27
Yang pushes past a few people – she mumbles out apologies to them, but she's too focused to stop – as she closes the distance between herself and Blake. Her girlfriend hasn't noticed her, hasn't seen her. She's looking the other way, at someplace else.
Yang doesn't just want to just surprise hug her, since she's a former White Fang agent, and she's liable to get an elbow in the gut for trying.
…Eh, worth it.
Unfortunately, Blake's ears are a bit too good to miss someone walking up to her from behind, and she turns, her brow furrowed, expecting, perhaps, to meet someone unsavory.
It's clear that Yang had not been the expectation, for her eyes go about as wide as saucers.
"Y-Yang!?" She almost sounds like she's begging. Begging who? Yang's not really sure. The universe, perhaps, to make it so that this isn't a falsehood, or a lie, or a beautiful dream.
Yang decides to nip that in the bud before it can cause Blake any doubt. She leaps forward, wraps her arms around Blake's stomach, and lifts her into the air.
"A-Ah!" Blake squeaks out, a rather undignified noise.
Yang's too excited to care. She spins the both of them around, laughing jubilantly as she squeezes Blake against her. Gods, but it feels so good to have her in her arms again. It had been…
…It had been nearly a full year, now.
"Yang!" Blake half-gasps, half-laughs. "It's you!"
"That's my line!" She realizes she's crying, and that's dumb, she shouldn't be crying. Ugh, she's so lame.
Blake, still suspended in Yang's arms, and held up in the air, chuckles under her breath as her own eyes tear up. She reaches down with both hands, and places them on Yang's cheeks. She wipes away the tears that have fallen from her eyes, before asking, "Are you going to put me down so I can kiss you?"
Y'know what? Blake drives a hard bargain.
She sets the girl down, and is immediately beset by a passionate kiss. Yang is very much a fan. She's completely lost in Blake's lips, and her presence, and the fact that she's getting a little hot, and what had they been here to do again, because frankly, it's feeling less and less important by the moment, up until someone clears their throat behind them.
Yang breaks off from Blake, still kind of bewildered, to see her mother raising an eyebrow at her.
"So," Raven clears her throat. "I'm taking it this is your girlfriend?"
"Ye-ep." She pops the 'p', because frankly, she's in a good mood. "Uh, Blake, this–"
"Wait, is that your–" Blake cuts herself off, but Yang chuckles.
"Yes, that's my mom." She states. "And yes, she knows."
Blake's eyes bug out. "What do you mean she knows?"
"I mean she knows that we're time travelers from the future." She tells her, and Blake looks equal parts confused and flabbergasted. "Uh, it's kind of complicated. Basically, she figured me out without my meaning for her to, and then she used the Relic of Knowledge to check the truth."
"Ah."
"Yeah, it's uh… well, it's a thing."
"I'm taking it you're here to take part in the protests?" Raven asks, and Blake nods her head.
"I'm essentially the person guarding the protests."
"Hm." Raven hums out. "That's good that you thought ahead on that. Honestly, half the reason I showed up was to bust the asses of any of Hawthorne's men who might come."
Yang shoots her mother an eyebrow. "Are you like champion of the weak all of a sudden?"
"Wasn't she a bandit queen?" Blake squints.
"Yeah, that's why I'm so confused."
"I just want to fuck with Hawthorne, to be honest." Raven shrugs. "Guy's always been a tool, but he's really taken it up a notch as of late."
"That he has." Blake sighs out, running a hand down her face. "And unfortunately, I believe that's my fault."
Yang's brow furrows. "What do you mean?"
"Have you heard about 'Black Fang'?" Blake asks, looking a bit embarrassed.
"Uh… no?"
"I have." Raven grunts out. "It was in the missive that Ozpin gave Summer. Something about a faunus revolutionary that Hawthorne's been using as a reason to say that the faunus are evil or something."
Raven stares at Blake a moment, seemingly noting some things down about her.
"…And her description just so happens to match up rather well to your own."
Blake nods awkwardly. "Yes, well…"
"Oh, shit, you're like some masked vigilante now, protecting the people from tyranny and oppression?" Yang smirks at Blake. "That's kind of hot."
Blake coughs into one hand, her face crimson. "Well, I'm… glad?"
Raven snorts. "Keep it in your pants for a bit, kid. You've got shit to do."
"I do?"
"What, you're going to let your girlfriend guard the rally alone?" Raven eyes her. "Somehow I doubt it."
"…Alright, fair." Yang turns to Blake. "Am I good to uh…"
Blake smiles. "Yeah. Sit with me, we can talk."
"I'll just…" Raven trails off. "Leave you two to it, I guess."
Yang nods her head, and Raven heads out, taking up position on the wall of a building a few meters away, leaning against it and shutting her eyes, one hand on the scabbard of Omen. Yang's figured out by now that her mother is entirely obsessed with looking cool at all times, so her edgy pose is almost certainly for that reason.
Still, she has some explaining to do to Blake.
"So," Her girlfriend beats her to the punch. "You and your mother are…"
"Not enemies?" Yang barks out a laugh as they take a ladder in a nearby alleyway up to a roof that Blake's chosen as a lookout point. "Yeah, surprised me a bit, too."
"She seems rather mellowed out."
"Well, having an actual support structure around you instead of shunning them and living amongst thieves and murderers your entire life will do that."
Blake hums out in amusement. "You haven't forgiven her, then?"
"Hm?" Yang turns back. "What gave you that idea?"
Blake's brow creases, but she shakes her head. "Nothing. Don't worry about it. I haven't run into anyone else. Have you?"
Oh, right, that. "I found Ruby, actually."
Blake's eyes widen. "Seriously!?"
"Believe it or not, she's here representing Beacon Academy in the Vytal Festival."
Blake laughs. "Well, that's… not what I'd have guessed."
"Yeah, me neither." Yang snorts. "I mean, she has a Hunter License. It's not like she needs the diploma or something."
"There has to be a reason she stuck around. Perhaps she thought that by appearing in the Vytal Festival, she might be able to attract our attention?"
"Well, I guess if we want to find Weiss."
"Who knows," Blake chuckles. "Maybe she'll randomly end up in Atlas, too."
"Somehow, I don't think we're going to get quite that lucky, Blake."
"I don't know," Blake leans towards her, her head on Yang's shoulder. "I feel like the luckiest girl in the whole world right now."
Yang blushes, despite the fact that that line had been so corny that she'd nearly cringed. Oh, gods, she's becoming a hopeless romantic, isn't she? Blake could ask to call her 'little baby-boo', or something, and she'd go along with it with an enthusiastic smile.
Ugh. Teenage her would think she's so lame.
…Well, teenage her can suck it. Blake's worth it.
"Well, uhm…" Yang clears her throat, trying to ignore the amused expression on Blake's face as she stares up at her, eyes partially lidded. "That's nice. I'm glad to hear it."
"Yang?"
"What's up?"
Blake's smile takes on a less teasing form, and gets a bit more serious. "I really missed you."
Yang laughs, feeling those earlier tears threatening to make their way back onto her face.
"Yeah… I really missed you, too."
She leans forward, Blake's lips approaching hers, and is seconds away from sealing the deal when…
"Hey, Yang!"
She jumps in place, as does Blake, turning towards the sound of someone calling out her name. She looks over and sees…
"Ruby!?" Yang shouts out, trying to pretend like she hadn't been about to make out with her girlfriend in front of her baby sister.
"Ruby!?" Blake shouts out, doing much the same.
"Blake!?" Ruby shouts out, wondering, likely, how the hell Yang had found Blake in the middle of Atlas.
"Uhm…" Roman Torchwick, who Yang remembers once more is her sister's teammate, coughs into one hand awkwardly. "So… should we find another roof, or?"
Their final teammate – Amber, Yang thinks she remembers – just groans.
"I'm surrounded by idiots."
/
It's around twenty minutes after that that the rally itself starts.
Yang's not really nervous, so much as she's expecting something to go wrong. She's confident that they can handle whatever that might be, but the fact of the matter is that the chances of this going off without a hitch feel drastically low.
Below her, Ghira Belladonna has begun to draw a small crowd as he begins orating on the treatment of the faunus in Atlas. Mostly, the crowd consists of faunus themselves, but there are one or two humans among them. He's inviting any among them who wish to protest for better rights to stand with them.
That's… not exactly safe, especially with what Blake's just told her about how their hotel had nearly been burned to the ground by a bunch of punk-ass gangsters. Taking in anyone from a crowd is a good way to get stabbed in the back.
"That's why we're here." Blake states, leaning over the edge of the roof, but only just, so that someone on the ground would have to be looking at her to spot her. "You see a flash of anything metal, tell me. I can make it down there faster than anyone can draw a knife or a gun, and my father has aura. He's not a fool, he's got it up right now, and will likely be keeping it up the entire rally."
Yang grimaces. "That's exhausting; consciously keeping your aura up for hours?"
"It's better than risking being killed."
"You're not wrong; I was just saying."
"Mm."
It's funny, in that moment, how it all just sort of comes back to them. They haven't really worked alongside one another in a Huntress capacity in… a year, almost? Yet they're just as in sync as they'd been in the Ever After.
Speaking of in sync, Ruby and her team… definitely aren't. They're not terrible, to be clear, but despite Blake having Ruby and the others helping out down at the rally by providing closer support – handing out fliers and stuff while being ready to act in case of an emergency – they're not being quite as subtle as either of them had hoped for.
"Oh my god, Roman's flirting with that woman."
Blake looks over at what Yang's just pointed out. "…She appears… to be almost twice his age."
"He might be into that?"
"He's a minor."
"Oh, yeah."
Blake rolls her eyes amusedly.
Ruby is handing fliers out with far too much enthusiasm, and drawing eyes from all over the place. Ghira, at least, seems pretty amused about the whole thing. And having a few humans around, helping them out, will probably help with optics.
Yang would be down there, but then, she's a bit too preoccupied with Blake, and wanting to be with her.
Hey, sue her, she's being selfish for once in her life!
Amber, the last girl, is the only one actually doing the job that had been requested of her. She's handing out fliers, talking quietly with people, and keeping Ghira and the other members of the White Fang within sight at all times. She's good, and likely has some experience in similar scenarios. Perhaps she's dealt with needing to escort a VIP around before?
Still, time passes, as it has a tendency to do. Yang's surprised, come fifteen minutes later, however, that… nothing has happened.
Other than the crowd growing a bit larger, and other than a few people having verbal disagreements among themselves in that crowd – mostly from Roman's really, really shitty attempts at flirting – nothing's happening.
Another fifteen minutes pass. And then another.
Yang's honestly starting to get a bit bored, all things considered.
Blake, however, seems almost… unsurprised.
"As much as I'd been dreading them taking action against us, I should've been willing to give them more credit." She sighs, both in relief and something else. "They've not built up enough of a position in Atlas to move against a peaceful protest like this without sending the faunus of Mantle, and those people who aren't racists, up in arms."
Yang nods her head, sort of getting what she's saying. "So… nothing's going to happen?"
"I'd say that's fairly likely, yes." Blake notes. "It would be far smarter for them to just ignore us, and pretend like nothing happened. Of course, that doesn't mean we're going to assume that. We've still got a job to do."
"Of course." Yang nods her head.
And they do. Sit there, that is. For another hour and a half. By the time it's ending, Ghira's rally has drummed up a bit of a fervor in the lower sections of Mantle, albeit one that will, likely, be entirely ignored by Hawthorne and his men.
That's probably part of the reason they hadn't done anything, either. To take action against the White Fang would be to legitimize them, and their position. And at the moment, they're just a group of non-native faunus peacefully protesting. They'd done so in the shadows; looking to remove them from play entirely via the arson attempt, but after that had failed, they'd been content to allow this to happen.
Ghira's doing his best to encourage others native to the area to protest themselves, but Yang has doubts that even a tenth of the people who've shown up today will do such a thing.
…But eh, maybe that's not so bad. They'd seen about six or seven hundred people so far that day. If two hundred of them said they'd protest, and only twenty actually do…
Well, that's more than the White Fang had started this protest with.
So perhaps, small, incremental changes are what's really needed in order to change society.
Eventually, Ghira announces the end of the rally, and Blake lets loose a sigh of relief as people begin breaking off.
No incidents. Nothing at all.
Yang's almost suspicious, even if they have a perfectly legitimate reason not to be.
"Okay," Blake coughs into one hand. "Well, for now, we'll help with disassembling everything."
"After that?" Yang asks, curious.
"I would like to talk to Ruby for a bit. I haven't seen her in a while" Blake's face goes a bit red. "But then… I was thinking… we could spend some time together? Just the two of us."
Yang's face is just as red. "Uh… I'll have to talk to Raven, first, but–"
Blake nearly collapses in a fit of giggles at that, and Yang doesn't even know why.
"What?"
"You realize you basically just said, 'Let me ask my mom', right?"
The redness on her face is now a bit more from shame than anything else.
"Oh, be quiet."
/
To say that Weiss is already a bit tuckered out by the time they make it to Atlas HQ is an understatement; she is exhausted.
If it hadn't been sleeping alongside Trivia – who hogs the covers like a damned fiend – or the fact that she hasn't actually taken a break in eight months, it had been the fact that they'd been followed on their way here, and then, when they'd finally gotten to Atlas HQ proper, they'd had to go through about fifty guards, each of them wanting to know who they'd been and what they had been doing there.
By the time they're stepping up to Ozpin's office – or, well, hotel room, actually – Weiss is pretty ready to go to bed.
Unfortunately, she instead has to be on her absolute best form in terms of keeping things under wraps. Because if she isn't, she risks accidentally outing herself as a Schnee, or, worse, as a time traveler.
…Well, one of those is a bit less likely, but still.
Qrow knocks, and suddenly, there's Ozpin, looking… actually, he's not really looking all that much younger. Then again, he'd always had that air to him, like he could've been anywhere from thirty to sixty, and Weiss wouldn't have been surprised.
"Qrow, it's good to see you. And you must be Weiss?"
She nods her head. "I am. It's good to meet you, Headmaster."
"Likewise. Come in, we can…" His eyes trail down to Trivia. "…I see you picked up someone while in Mistral."
"Yes, well…" Qrow sighs. "It's uh… complicated."
Ozpin breathes out in amusement. "Come in. You can explain just what you mean."
They do just that. Ozpin's room is clearly a bit nicer than any of the hotel rooms that she and Qrow have been staying in of late. It's got a bar, a full couch in what is basically a living room, and a separate bedroom with an ensuite bath.
Weiss is trying not to be jealous of the fact that she's been staying exclusively in small, cramped, cheap hotel rooms for months now. …She's trying. She won't pretend it's working.
Qrow tells Ozpin what they'd agreed that they would tell him. She's lucky that Qrow's holding to his end of their little bargain, which is to say that he's yet to say anything about her abilities as a Schnee. She appreciates that, even if with the white hair, she's not exactly subtle in terms of lineage.
There aren't a lot of people with naturally white hair.
"And this young girl…"
"Her name is Trivia." Weiss explains. "She's mute."
"Ah, I see." He smiles down at Trivia, who nervously nods to him. "I had thought you rather unusually polite for a child your age. Well, even so, it is nice to meet you, Trivia."
He holds a hand out to her, and Trivia, evidently not having expected that, hesitates a moment before offering one of her own, and shaking Ozpin's.
"If you wouldn't mind, however, I need to have a discussion with Mr. Branwen and Ms. Weiss. I have called over a nice young woman named Glynda. Would you mind going with her to see some of the sights around Atlas while we discuss things?"
Trivia takes a moment, before looking up at Weiss. She smiles to the girl, indicating that's fine, and she had nothing to worry about, and Trivia nods her head after some deliberation.
Glynda Goodwitch – who is evidently quite young, now, maybe twenty-two or twenty-three? – arrives a minute later, and takes Trivia out of the room. She waves goodbye to Weiss and Qrow, and they both wave back.
Once she has exited, Ozpin wastes no time.
"Now, have you had time to read my report on the going's-on in Atlas?"
"I read it on the flight over." Qrow nods. "So, Hawthorne's the one in charge, huh?"
"Focusing on that, first?" Ozpin chuckles. "Alright, we can work our way up to the harder sections. Yes, Hawthorne's essentially used his stance of anti-faunus sentiment to gain a foothold where he otherwise lacked one just a year ago. As much as I wish the world were not a place where that is a legitimate strategy, well…" Ozpin shakes his head. "You and I both know I had another candidate in mind to be general at this point."
"Where is Jimmy, anyhow? Haven't seen him at all."
That at least confirms for Weiss who they're talking about, although it's not like that would've been terribly difficult to figure out via context clues.
"He's been made Admiral. He's currently patrolling the waters just off of Menagerie, culling the Grimm populations there. Or, well, that's the stated reason. Of course, it's really so that Hawthorne can make whatever moves he wishes to without anyone getting in the way."
Qrow groans. "Man, for once, I'd just like it if something worked out without us having to work so damn hard."
"Well, there is one matter that has fallen into place without your intervention." Ozpin smiles knowingly. "Your sister has returned to Summer and Tai, and has, from what I've seen, reintegrated herself with them."
Qrow frowns. "I was sort of looking to not talk about this, Oz."
"I know," Ozpin smiles. "That is precisely why I am bringing it up myself, as you would not on your own."
"What's there to talk about?" Qrow grunts out. "So, Raven found it in herself to come back? Big whoop."
"I believe," Ozpin clears his throat. "That she was convinced to do so by a young Huntress."
That, at least, has Qrow's attention, and Weiss will admit that she's at least a bit concerned about this as well. Mostly, because she's pretty sure that Raven hadn't been a part of Yang's life at all when she'd been a child.
Which means either Weiss' actions here have somehow caused Raven to go back to her family…
"That young huntress," Weiss leans forward on the couch. "What's her name?"
"I do believe her name was Yang." Ozpin states, and Weiss uses everything that she has to not react. She's pretty sure it's not going to hold for long. "Although she was cagey with information, so perhaps she has simply come up with a false name. Albeit if it is false, taking a name from a girl she likely sees all the time is a rather lazy way of hiding things."
Weiss… her breath's caught in her throat, and her heart is hammering in her chest. She knows she can't react, because she doesn't have enough information to go off of. Yang – if this is her Yang, and signs are pointing towards it being her – had seemingly been cagey with Ozpin.
Weiss doesn't expressly distrust Ozpin. In fact, among their number, she'd say she's the most trusting of the man, simply because she can in a way understand why he is the way he is. They'd all seen what had happened in Atlas. Why he takes the precautions he does.
But at the same time, she's not going to go behind Yang's back and give out more information than she'd want her to.
"I see." She tries to maintain a steady façade. She's not really sure how long she'll be able to manage that, but she's going to attempt to escape from this conversation without finding herself on Ozpin's radar. "That's interesting. From what Qrow has told me, he did not at all suspect that his sister would return to the fold."
"He was not the only one." Ozpin admits. "I also suspected that she would not return. Her departure was… messy, to say the least. She made it rather clear at the time that she wanted nothing to do with any of us again."
"Which was total bullshit," Qrow groans. "But she did say it."
"Okay, so," Weiss clears her throat. "Why am I here?"
"Ah, right." Ozpin clears his throat. "Qrow, it seems you have escaped this conversation for another half hour or so."
"I'm very glad." Qrow admits.
"Well, then. Your name is Weiss, correct?"
"Weiss White, yes."
Ozpin seems amused by that. "Your name is the old Atlesian word for White, followed by the modern basic for White?"
"I am aware, sir." Weiss feigns annoyance. "Those who named me were not particularly imaginative about it."
The man chuckles. "Ah, well. Such does not matter. Qrow has told me that you are quite a capable field agent. That together, the two of you worked in tandem to take down Marcus Black, a famed Mistralian Assassin, and even rescue his son from a life of abuse."
They… had done that. Only… "I didn't have much to do with that particular case."
"Bullshit," Qrow cuts in, eyeing her. "You tracked the asshole. Once we were there, yes, you fell for the trap, but that's a mistake any rookie's going to make when faced with a kid tied up and bruised. The fact that you got your aura up in time to not get splashed across the back wall says enough about your capabilities on its own."
She grumbles, annoyed to be having this conversation again. As much as she likes to pretend otherwise, her father had instilled in her a sense of perfectionism from a young age, and she's kept to that ever since. She's unwilling to take credit for such a poor performance.
"Plus, when the kid shot me, you took out Black, and even managed to help me perform emergency surgery without losing your lunch."
Weiss eyes him. "I threw up moments after you finished."
"And that's fine. You're allowed to throw up when it's over." The man states. "Point is, that mission could've, perhaps even should've been a disaster. Instead, we walked out of it, the both of us, and saved the kid, too."
"Well, that's quite the glowing recommendation from you, Qrow." Ozpin turns towards her, massaging at his chin. "Are you a Huntress, Ms. White?"
"I am."
"Licensed?"
"She is." Qrow nods. "Confirmed it myself."
That's obviously a lie, given that her name wouldn't show up in any current databases, but she appreciates that Qrow is covering for her, even from Ozpin. She'd… almost expected him to sell her out, and she feels a bit bad about that now.
"It seems you truly do have Qrow's trust." Ozpin smiles. "I must say, in all my years of knowing him, I don't think I've ever seen him defend someone quite as vehemently as he defends you."
"I know skill when I see it." Qrow shrugs his shoulders. "We would be fools not to invite her into the fold; assuming, of course that you're willing to fight against some admittedly nasty people, and risk your life for the sake of the world."
Weiss almost wants to laugh. "You're certainly selling it rather well."
"Qrow is not lying to you. This is not at all a job for the faint of heart. Many of our very best agents have met their ends in the field. I cannot guarantee your safety if you choose to fight alongside us. And yet, I can tell you that if you do fight, you will be working towards a world where children will no longer need to be raised to fight monsters at all."
It's a rather heavy pitch, but it's not like Weiss can't see why. Fighting against Salem Is exactly what they're saying it is; a death-sentence in all but name.
And yet…
"I'll do it. I'm not just going to sit around and let other people fight the battles that need to be fought. I'm also not enough of a fool to believe that this wouldn't eventually involve me, anyways. And, in all honesty, I owe Qrow more than a few favors."
Qrow rolls his eyes. "You don't owe me squat."
"We can beg to differ on that." Weiss dismisses his words.
Ozpin chuckles, but nods his head after a moment.
"If you are so sure, and Qrow speaks so highly of you, then I do believe I would be foolish to not at the very least tentatively consider you as a member of our inner circle."
Weiss nods her head, having seen such coming for quite a while.
"If I may, allow me to ask you, Miss White. A way of starting to speak about the… complications of our world."
The man coughs into one fist, before leaning forward with a smile.
"What is your favorite fairyt–"
In that instant, Ozpin's scroll begins to ring.
It seems odd for Ozpin's scroll to ring at so inopportune at time. Weiss had figured he would likely have the thing on silent.
From the look on Ozpin's face, it seems he had thought the same. He stares down at his ringing scroll, and his eyes briefly widen.
"They would not call unless…" His lips turn downwards into a frown. "Pardon me, Miss White. I need to take this."
She nods her head, feeling the smallest bit of nervous energy beginning to bubble up within her chest. There's just… something about all of this that has the hairs on the back of Weiss' neck standing up.
"Is there a situation?" Ozpin answers his scroll, and though Weiss can't see the person on the other side of the scroll, she can just barely hear the outline of their voice through the scroll's receiver.
They sound almost panicked.
"What!?" Ozpin suddenly shouts out, before reaching up and pinching his brow with one hand. "What happened to the one– Already carted off? Damn it! I– yes, I will speak with Hawthorne, and look to prevent this from becoming a major news piece. The Kingdom does not need this."
Ozpin closes his scroll, and the look on his face is harrowing. He seems perturbed, not as much as he had looked when Beacon had been under attack, but…
Well, it's close.
"What's wrong?" Qrow stands from the couch, hand on Harbinger. "Is there something–"
"There is nothing a Huntsman can do, I am afraid," Ozpin shakes his head, before walking over towards the window of his room and staring out of it, as if trying to get his thoughts in order.
"There's… been an incident."
He turns back towards them, and his tone is grim as he delivers the news.
"A faunus just murdered a human in the streets of Mantle."
End Chapter 27
Well. That's not good.
There's a discord server you guys can join to read the next chapter right now for free, but posting links on ff is like damn near impossible, so instead, here, just have the last letters of that, after the discord dot gg. uYwsZKw3eT
If you want to support me, and get access to the next FIVE chapters of this story right now, far sooner than they'll release on FF or AO3, then consider checking out my Patron! There's an e in there after the r and before the o. I assume you know what I'm talking about, but FF and AO3 don't like me typing that. It's just website dot com /Deferonz! NO EXCLUSIVE CONTENT WILL EVER BE POSTED THERE, this is only early access, just to be clear!
Want to support me without signing up for a monthly payment? Check out my Kofi! just website dot com /Deferonz!