Chapter Text
Beacon is a symbol of hope.
Back then, finally freed from that prison of a manor she called home in Atlas, fresh into Vale with a promising future ahead of her as a huntress, it had been Weiss’s escape. Her only escape.
To her, being a huntress meant freedom.
Being a huntress meant honor.
Being a huntress meant fighting for the good of the world and defeating evil.
So, how?
How could it go so wrong?
(She should’ve known. When something seems too good to be true…
It’s because it is.)
“Weiss, watch out!”
Her partner’s warning comes too late and she is torn from her panicked state of mind to escape, run, get out of here, get out by a piercing sensation at her side that ruins her landing from leaping off the side of a hill, crashing through wayward branches and taking an entire tree down from the impact along the way. Though it’s a hard collision that definitely might’ve broken a bone or two, she can’t tell right now because of how much adrenaline is coursing through her, it is enough to stop her from rolling down the rest of the way so at least she can regain some semblance of control.
And though she is now bleeding from where she guesses a bullet must have been shot through her- all the way, thankfully. From one side to the other. So now Weiss doesn’t have to worry about fishing around for it in her body, that would be very unpleasant later- and her entire body aches from ramming into a tree, her first instinct as ever is to locate where Ruby fell off of her from where she had been riding on her back as the wolf raced through the Emerald Forest.
Please, please, please, don’t be-
Her ears perk as they catch the subtlest groan from the surrounding area and she scrambles to her paws, searching in the faint illumination from the moon above to find her partner on the ground many feet away. No doubt having jumped off of her at the last second to avoid colliding with the tree as well; because, unlike Weiss, with her wolven durability able to shrug off such a hit, Ruby would’ve suffered greatly.
Especially since she’s out of aura.
Ruby winces as she gets to her knees, clutching at her bleeding shoulder from where someone- she doesn’t even remember who, she doesn’t care who- stabbed her through with their weapon. And just the sight of it brings a whine from her chest, has her standing and moving despite the pain throughout her body because nothing else matters but Ruby.
Protect her, Nix, the wolf that she embodies, is extremely displeased with everything and it’s all Weiss can do to keep in control of herself to prevent the beast from running the entire way back to the academy to rip apart whoever dared to touch her mate. Protect her, Weiss, or I-
I know, okay? I know. You don’t have to keep reminding me repeatedly, I get it.
Nix growls in irritation at her brusque response, that familiar fog that normally takes over in dire situations to revert from sentience to base, primal instincts of survival lingering in the corner of her senses. Weiss has a harder time shaking it off now, pushing her way through the fallen branches and not caring about the way they snap underfoot. Releasing another whine once she’s close enough to stand over Ruby, leaning her head down to delicately nudge the back of the hand that covers her injury.
“You okay?” Ridiculously, it’s Ruby who is more concerned over her in this situation despite arguably being the more vulnerable one right now. It’s so absurd it almost makes her laugh, if she could in her wolf form, at the same it makes her want to cry. Because of course Ruby is more concerned over Weiss’s well-being rather than her own. That’s just who she is. “That was a hard fall and- Weiss, you’re bleeding!”
She gives her a deadpan expression, looking pointedly at Ruby’s scarlet-stained shoulder and back to lovely silver with a huff.
And despite the fact that they’re being chased back to wolf territory through the Emerald Forest by the huntsmen and huntresses they once worked together with, once helped at one point or another as their seniors, once knew in passing, Ruby laughs. Short and sharp as it is as she reassesses her own wound with a sigh.
“Yeah, Trypan got me good. I don’t know whether to be proud or not that he’s finally mastered that move I told him about.”
Trypan. Weiss only has the vaguest memories of him. A young first-year looking to make a name for himself and one of many who fawned over team RWBY and the others, always constantly asking for tips on how to improve himself.
She slots his name away for later.
“They came this way!”
Danger.
They have to move. Now.
Weiss grunts, flashing her fangs up the incline of the hill where she can pinpoint silhouettes of their hunters starting to pop up. Instinctively stepping within Ruby’s line of sight and crouching down in a silent offer for her partner to climb on so they can keep going. It’s a no doubt painful process for Ruby and Weiss does not even want to think about the blood of her love staining the fur on her back, so she doesn’t. She assists her up as best as she can and only starts moving once she’s comfortably there, gripping onto tufts of scruff and fur.
“There they are!”
Time to go.
A gunshot rings through the air and Weiss curls her lip when it hits the ground right beside her. Perhaps a warning, or perhaps she just got lucky this person’s aim is so terrible. Either way, it is too close to comfort because if something is capable of hurting her, then that means Ruby is also within their range and that will never sit well with her.
Go, Weiss-
I’m going, Nix, Weiss growls, the vibration rumbling within her chest as she takes off. Straight, always straight ahead. Back to werewolf territory. Back to Hinan. (Back to home.) You can’t keep distracting me with things I already know. What’s gotten into you?
Her wolf is normally never this pushy. Or impatient, for that matter. Outside of the week of a full moon, the beast is usually calm. Well-tempered, always content with letting Weiss have control and never trying to vie for it with her unless absolutely necessary in dangerous situations.
What’s gotten into me, a snarl that shakes her to the bone and almost has her faltering in her pace, but she continues undeterred, is that I can smell her blood. And that’s not something I should ever pick up on, not when she’s with you.
Oh, so it is my fault she’s hurt?
It’s your fault for going into hunter’s land without a proper plan.
Perhaps in some ways, Nix is right. All the two of them really had in mind was to get to Beacon and peacefully request to have a talk with the headmaster. And if not that, if they couldn’t facilitate a conversation, then their goal instead would’ve been to find Blake and Yang.
And they made it to Beacon grounds. Weiss almost cried with the nostalgia of it all at the sight of the academy’s buildings towering, so tall that they could touch the sky in a way that let her know anything was possible. Some part of her heart would always see Beacon as home, no matter how much her views of huntsmen and huntresses and the academies that trained them have changed because of her time as a werewolf.
So it was very alarming to her when the two of them were not only turned away at the gates by Ozpin himself- standing at the top of the walls meant to keep creatures potentially trying to target the heart of the academy itself out, as if he had been expecting them to show up tonight- but he also issued the order to have them chased off. There was no sign of Blake and Yang and he wouldn’t tell them where they were either before he walked away, leaving them to fend off an entire armada of his student soldiers that flooded through the opening of the gates.
First years and second years, ever eager to prove themselves. Third years and fourth years taking it more seriously and following orders. Some of those from their already graduated class that would probably stick around the academy for another year or so to patrol the forests and help to continue training the younger ones, sympathetic and holding themselves back.
Weiss had no choice but to transform just so she wouldn’t be a hindrance to Ruby, who did not hesitate to defend her because at first, everyone was targeting Weiss and…
Honestly, it left her frozen.
Watching so many people who were all completely capable of killing her and were trained to do so rush at her without hesitation all because of the word of one man. Some she knew, others she met only once or twice, a few she did not recognize at all so they must’ve been amongst the new batch of students that arrived after she left. With the rug pulled out from underneath her feet because sure, she expected it to be difficult to talk some sense into Ozpin and the academy, but to be denied outright like they were?
It felt like heartbreak at the same time it felt like broken promises.
Because what the fuck is she supposed to do now? If Ozpin won’t even listen, what are they supposed to do?
What is she supposed to tell Praes? Weiss promised the leader of the werewolves that she and her team could make a difference. Can make things better. Can stop this war between the werecreatures (and all other supernatural beings) and humanity and Faunus-kind.
Whatever the case, she’ll have to come up with a new (and better) plan later.
Because right now, escape is her main priority.
Outpacing the hunters isn’t the most difficult thing in the world to do, Weiss is quite fast in this form, and within a few minutes all she can hear are the distant shouted orders of those from the Academy working together to find them again and… probably kill them then and there. Or maybe bring them back to Ozpin, she doesn’t know. Most of them seem more intent on causing permanent harm rather than taking them back alive.
Only a mile more in this direction and they’ll be back on safe territory. She can signal to the night patrol always searching for Grimm to take down or scouting the borders to make sure no hunters cross over into their home and they’ll have proper back-up.
But what if those from the academy follow them into the land of the werewolves without a care? What if they are so intent on killing them that they will stop at nothing to get there?
Weiss is potentially leading dozens of huntsmen and huntresses right for her home.
That realization has her skidding to a stop with a grunt, her breaths fairly even despite the long-distance sprint and body shaking from the continuous exertion through the damage she’s received tonight. Scanning around the immediate area to gain her bearings on where they are versus how close the boundary line is and how far Beacon is from them now. Being back on this side of this forest is rather jarring, no matter if it looks relatively the same on the other side (but the smell… Gods, the scents are so different between sides. One smells of home, the other of death and bloodshed, and sometimes she can never quite figure out which one is which).
“Weiss?” Ruby mumbles her name in question, so close to her ears as she leans into her and perhaps it’s telling of how much blood she’s lost since she no longer has the strength to hold herself up while on a rather bumpy ride. It only makes that ache in her chest increase to agonizing levels and she wants nothing more than to swaddle her partner in her arms and protect her from everything this cursed world has to throw at her, her own safety be damned.
But just as with everything else, that’ll have to wait.
Weiss sniffs the air once more before taking a turn in a different direction, her mental map of this side of the Emerald Forest rather fuzzy but clear enough for her to know that if she just follows the fresh scent of the spring, she’ll find a hidden cave somewhere along the way. She opts speed out for stealth instead, loping low to the ground to keep a decent pace and being mindful of her foot placement to make as little noise as possible. Damn near silent on her venture closer and closer until she comes across the spring, (no longer the bumbling newly-bitten trying to figure out how this new body works), the undergrowth damp beneath her paw pads where she is, and continuing on with the gradual descent from slippery rock to slippery rock to reach a lower part of the forest. Thicker with vegetation with rapid rivers splitting the earth the further in one goes until it reaches a canyon to nowhere that’s rumored to be infested with the vampires they drove out of the forest.
Weiss has no intention of making it that far. (Perhaps another day.)
Finding the cavern is easy. The aroma of moss that has grown on the inside over a significant amount of time overpowering the slightest traces of an animal that once lived there. Maybe a bear of some kind. Still, even if she knows it’s abandoned, Weiss is cautious stepping further and further down into it, squeezing through a seemingly imperceivable gap between the rocks as carefully as she can. Mindful of Ruby on her back as she descends into the cave.
They’ll be able to get at least a little bit of respite here. Come up with some sort of plan. Catch their breaths. Hopefully do something to at least patch Ruby up a little.
The space within isn’t too uncomfortably cramped for her large body, even less so when she meticulously lowers herself down until she’s lying on her belly so Ruby can get off of her with the least amount of jostling as possible. When her partner lands in the space beside her, Weiss emits a low sound as she leans heavily with her back to the wolf’s side. Her exhale hitched with pain no matter how much she tries to hide it.
They can’t hide here forever, she’s aware. If the hunters truly want them, it won’t be long until they scour the entire forest just to try and find them and though this cave is relatively hidden away, it is by no means a permanent solution. Eventually, someone will find them.
Weiss focuses on the opening of the cave. Keeping all her senses on high alert and trying to concentrate on any outlier sound besides the water running across the rocks. Ears perked, nose twitching as she sniffs the air every now and then, eyes locked onto the crack between the walls.
How could it go so wrong?
It keeps replaying in her head. They didn’t entirely walk into a trap per se, but Ozpin sure did seem prepared to launch everything he had at them and the academy students, of course, listened without a second thought. Everyone saw her as the enemy and they saw Ruby as a traitor for taking her side. The headmaster hardly let her get a word in, telling them they had one chance to leave and never return.
Was it really too late to make a difference?
People like him, Nix sighs, despondent, don’t change with one conversation. If at all.
So does this mean it’s hopeless to try?
It means you must determine what is more important: trying to change the mind of the headmaster and the rest of the academies, the rest of the world… or keeping yourself and her safe and alive. There’s no other option.
With that kind of thinking, Weiss shakes her head, shifting in place with her ears pinning back in displeasure, you can seclude yourself for generations in an underground city.
It’s exactly what’s happened to the pack for who knows how long. Perhaps the dawn of time itself. For their own safety, for their own lives, it was better to flee and survive than fight a losing battle and die.
And it’s worked. There have been generations of werecreatures and many that still live on to this day.
But how many of them have never seen the sun before? How many of them have never felt the wind against their skin? Only the wolves are allowed out to keep the forest safe while all the others stay in Hinan.
That’s not freedom. That’s not a life.
They put themselves in a prison they made by their own hands and tossed the key away.
Perhaps, Nix relents, settling further back into her mind for some rest, but it is with that kind of thinking that’s kept many alive. And to them, that’s enough.
Which is also true.
Because even with the short amount of time Weiss has spent in the underground werecreature city of Hinan, everyone there was happy. Even those that have never seen the light of day, never soaked in the warm rays of the sun or marveled in the silver shine of the moon, never felt the wind rushing by and creating music with the leaves and the trees. They didn’t hold any inclination for wanting to leave.
They’ve survived for countless years with this method of hiding, so should Weiss even be trying to change it? Would they want that?
I don’t know…
I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t-
A tap to the side of her shoulder has her turning her focus away from the cave entrance (still keeping her ears on a swivel just in case) to where Ruby sits beside her. A little more properly now after taking a moment to catch her breath and regain her bearings, with a part of her cloak torn and wrapped around her shoulder haphazardly as a makeshift bandage. She’ll have to fix it for it to be more effective because right now it’s doing next to nothing to actually control the bleeding.
“Nix,” Ruby smiles sheepishly, adorably, keeping her finger pressed against the muscular shoulder of the wolf, “much as I love having you around, can I talk with Weiss really quick?”
It’s such a small thing, but for her and Nix, it means the world.
For Ruby to address her wolf as an individual, one capable of conscience and emotions just as much as the next person, and not just as another beast that Weiss sometimes transforms into. It was hard trying to describe the relationship between the huntress and the wolf, how she is both at all times but how they are also separate entities, mostly because Weiss herself doesn’t entirely understand it at all and to put the bond she has with Nix to words is next to impossible to try and fully encapsulate what it is. But Ruby took it in stride on the night of their reunion. Listening intently as ever and remaining patient whenever she floundered for how to continue in her explanations.
It warms something within her. Her very soul, even. Both that of the human and that of the wolf.
To be acknowledged as a living, breathing being and not as a mindless monster.
Perhaps it’s why, even if Nix does not register this place as safe whatsoever, the transformation back into herself comes so swiftly. Put at ease by Ruby just being Ruby and treating the wolf the same way she treats Weiss. With as much love and as much care and as much compassion.
Weiss cannot catch the groan that escapes her lips once the pain of being shot and having one or two ribs cracked begins to make itself known again when she’s back to her human body. The wolf ears and tail remain as they always do, forever a permanent part of her now (and she would have it no other way). She grimaces, placing her hand against her side where it throbs the most and coming away with her entire palm stained with red.
It’s probably her first time properly fighting a huntsman or a huntress. Back when the Tree of Spring had been burned down, Weiss had been one of the luckier ones to come out of it relatively unscathed and suffering more from the flames than a weapon. She can remember only one or two other times where she fought against those from the academy defending their territory, and even then only in fleeting moments and not a prolonged battle like that had been, and…
Something’s different.
It hurts more than usual. Her enhanced healing should’ve already closed a majority of the wound, maybe even stop it from bleeding altogether, but it continues to spill dark red just as heavily as when it was created with an unbearable burn that sets her ablaze from the inside out. Only where the bullet must have traveled through her, a searing line from one side of her through the other.
She’s not exactly dizzy either, more so a little light-headed than anything. But she can’t stop staring at the blood on her hand.
Nix? She exhales as steadily as she can, the beginnings of nausea sitting at the base of her throat. What is this?
Poison, my kin. It appears that you’ve been touched by silver. But rest assured, I am working on getting rid of it. You should be fine by morning, granted you don’t get hit again.
But they… The academy never provided silver for us before. As far as she was aware, it was difficult to import from Atlas and the trading ships were often always targeted by the supernatural beings and destroyed. It was as much of a poison to them as it was a lure. And the effects it had on the huntsmen and huntresses who used it for prolonged periods of time in relation to their aura were still unknown, Ozpin had deemed it too dangerous until further research was done.
Things change, Weiss.
“-iss? Hey, Weiss.”
Fingers curling around her wrist has her inhaling sharply, flinching, and even that abrupt movement itself makes the pain twinge more. It draws a whimper out of her that has Ruby shuffling closer to her, keeping her hold against her wrist while placing her free hand on Weiss’s shoulder to steady her. A severe frown on her lips as she briefly inspects the crimson on her skin.
“Are you okay?” Ruby hesitates only a second more before working on taking off her cloak completely, attempting not to jostle her carelessly wrapped shoulder too much as she does so and nodding her head to indicate Weiss's body. “Here, let me wrap it up.”
“I’m fine, Ruby. I’ll be fine. Please,” she stops her from reaching for her waist with the bundle of fabric, brushing her thumb along it with a sigh and a shake of her head, “I don’t want to get this dirty. It’s important to you."
Her partner scoffs quietly, meeting blue sternly with a raise of her brow, “And you aren’t?”
It brings a hint of a smile to her lips, a bit dazed even (okay, so maybe the lightheadedness is getting worse…), and Weiss can’t stop herself from leaning toward her to close the distance between them. Kissing her frown away because she does not like seeing such a worried expression on her. Ruby should only ever be happy around, she should never cause her pain or distress.
It settles something within her when Ruby, though she exhales roughly through her nose, returns the kiss with just as much emotion. Cupping the side of her cheek so Weiss is able to feel the metal of the ring on her finger against her skin. Right where it’s always belonged, finally after so long. So much turmoil.
But the peace is gone with another shock of pain when her partner, unbeknownst to her (distracted as she is), lowers her other hand down to where the bullet wound is and presses ever so lightly against it. Weiss grunts, accidentally nipping Ruby’s bottom lip as she goes to pull away, snatching her by the wrists to take the pressure off of her injury.
“You’re not healing,” Ruby whispers, so low as if she didn’t want to speak the reality of it into existence. It’s not a question either, it’s a direct statement; and leave it up to her partner to pick up on that right away. Slowly, deliberately and giving Weiss plenty of time to tell her to stop, she presses her palm against her again until she covers it. “What’s wrong?”
Well, there’s no use trying to hide it anymore. She had wanted to try and tough it out, at least until they made it to Hinan and she was able to let Praes know.
“Has… Did Ozpin give you guys upgrades at any point while I was gone?”
“Yeah, we’ve been getting the usual shipments of supplies like always. How come?”
“...Can I see a bullet from Crescent Rose?”
Ruby furrows her brow in confusion at the request but is quick to oblige, fishing through her pouch where she keeps her spare ammo. The sniper rounds are kept in a blocky cartridge container, neat and orderly, and she has no idea how she missed not being able to hear the extra bullets clinking around with every one of Ruby’s footsteps like they used to. At first, she assumed that her partner finally decided to make reloading much faster and more efficient after going years of being stubborn about it and insisting she preferred manually putting one bullet at a time just to make sure she didn’t mess anything up.
Her partner wedges one out from the container with a surprising amount of effort needed on her part, so much so it sends the dislodged bullet tumbling aside on the ground and she scrambles to pick it up. Presenting it to Weiss in the palm of her hand. And it looks like any normal bullet that she’s seen Ruby use time and time again. There’s no change to coloration, size, or shape.
But despite it being exactly the same to what she remembers it being, when Ruby holds it in her direction, there is an immediate burn in her nostrils on her next inhale. It makes her eyes watery and she slaps a hand over her nose with a groan, her muscles tensing in preparation to flee or fight, the throbbing pain from her gash increasing. Not enough to be crippling, but enough to be noticeable- and that’s just with being in close proximity to more silver too.
In her head, Nix’s warning snarl brings an immediate migraine like nothing she’s ever known before.
“Sorry!” Of course, Ruby immediately apologizes as she pulls her hand with the sniper round away, closing it in a fist and eyeing her worriedly. “I’m sorry, what… Weiss, I don’t understand what-”
“Silver.”
“Huh?”
“That’s silver, Ruby.” Her ears flatten and she directs her growl toward the entrance of the cave as if Ozpin himself was standing there. Cursing, “He’s been giving the students silver bullets now, and from the look on your face, he’s been doing it without any of you knowing.”
Because fuck whatever detriments may come to them from the prolonged exposure to it, especially for those who use their aura to power their shots like some do. Whatever gets the job done, right?
Her opinions of the headmaster have now plummeted even more and she doesn’t know if she even wants to talk with him again.
Ruby stares down at the bullet in her hand for a second longer before decisively chucking it aside and as far away from Weiss as possible. Doing the same not a moment later with the container that holds the others and taking Crescent Rose out to unload it as well tossing all the rest aside. She gets up on unsteady, wobbly legs and makes her way over to the pile, kneeling down to start scooping as much loose dirt over it as she can. Attempting to bury it.
“Ruby,” she calls to her softly as her partner sharply shakes her head, back still facing her.
“That’s not okay.”
“Ruby…”
“That’s not okay, Weiss, how could he…” A single, bitter sound comes from her like the saddest excuse of a laugh she’s ever heard. Turned away as she is, Weiss can’t distinguish anything from her features aside from the subtle tensing of the muscles in her back. Her cloak held limply within her arms instead of around her shoulders as she stares down at it. Mumbling in a tone so low Weiss wouldn’t be able to catch it if it weren’t for her heightened senses and wolf ears, “How could I be so blind?”
“Do not,” Weiss snaps instantaneously, her growl rumbling louder and joining her voice to add an underlying pitch to each word, “blame yourself for his actions.”
“But-”
“No!” She stands up too quickly and it hurts but she grits her teeth through the pain because tortuous as it is- it pulses like a second heartbeat; one-two, one-two, one-two- she knows she’s experienced worse. The bite that turned her made sure of that, the pain of being seen as an enemy and isolated by her team made sure of that, her father made sure of that. So, Weiss can bear this one too and take step after step because she has to keep going. “You had no way of knowing any of this, Ruby. He lied to you, he lied to all of us.”
“Is that the legacy we were meant for, then?” Her partner tilts her head subtly, almost glancing over her shoulder but not quite committing. Even as Weiss stands right behind her, fingers twitching to reach for her and comfort her and take away her pain but she can’t. “Lies and bloodshed?”
Perhaps it might be.
It’s certainly been the legacy of huntsmen and huntresses for generations now. And they were just another pawn on the chessboard to be used, another piece of the puzzle to a bloody, war-torn picture they never got the full details of. Only ever one side of the story, their side of the story. The side that Ozpin and all the other headmasters made the world believe.
But Weiss has now seen the other side of it. The one that’s been hidden away, forced underground for years and years and years of prejudice and predation. The one that lifts the veil of all the things unknown from her eyes and shows her the full image of what she fought for her whole life. What she believed in her whole life. What she killed for and bled for.
And Weiss will be blind to it no longer.
She refuses.
A heavy sigh escapes her as she finally gives in to her desires, reaching down hesitantly until she can rest her hand against Ruby’s uninjured shoulder. Her partner stiffens even more before she starts to relax, wordlessly leaning into her touch and against her when Weiss moves to stand at her side. Brushing her fingers through her hair in what she hopes is a calming manner.
“We’re going to change things. One way or another,” Weiss makes her promise with bated breath, subconsciously waiting for the denial. Waiting to be refused. But hopeful, ever hopeful. “Starting now, we write our own legacy, Ruby.”
“I just… The more I learn about everything, the harder it is for me to process it all.”
“Then, let’s go to Hinan. Get some rest,” though she struggles to kneel beside her, Weiss insists upon it until she can wrap her arm around Ruby now, gentle, “I’ll give you all the time you need to process it. Or if you can’t handle being around the pack while you do, we can… go somewhere else.”
She has no idea where since there’s nowhere else to go unless they wish to abandon all of this, but she’ll think of something. Even if it’s just staying in a cave in wolf territory, away from the subterranean cities of the werecreatures.
“Okay.”
“Alright,” Weiss kisses the side of her temple, giving a pleased hum when Ruby does the same to her cheek in something akin to gratitude. Whispering against her skin, “Let me bandage that up properly, then we can find our way out of here.”
One that doesn’t involve leading everyone there as well, preferably.
But just as she’s about to get settled down to unwrap the torn part of the cloak from around Ruby’s shoulder, a prickle at the back of her neck has goosebumps rising to her skin as her heart leaps to her throat on Nix’s growl; Danger, my kin.
Fuck, she forgot to be keeping a lookout.
Weiss whirls to face the entrance of the cave, keeping herself between Ruby and whatever threat that has the wolf itching to be released again. Teeth already bared and a distinct ache to her fingers, only at each nail bed. As if her claws are trying to appear. Her vision adjusts to the dim light of what little moonshine is allowed in from the angle of the cave and her entire body freezes when a silhouette appears there. A dark shadow that moves swiftly without a second thought and takes the journey down the small incline until they land on the same level as them. Officially entering the cave.
A deep breath.
Lilac.
“Blake?!” Ruby calls out to her first, ignoring the fact that Weiss is trying to hide her from the danger.
Wild blood.
Blake crouches at the entrance, her blades drawn on either side of her as she blinks, her own vision adjusting to the darkness of the cavern, and regards the two of them with a difficult-to-read expression. First to Ruby, then to Weiss and as soon as gold eyes land on her, Weiss readies herself to lunge. To fight, if need be. No matter how much she pleads with Nix not to hurt her friends, the wolf only has one goal in mind: keeping Ruby safe. And it will do so against anyone she perceives as a threat. Friend or not.
It’s terrifying. How there can be a thousand different emotions in her eyes and none at all. Like Blake is looking at her as a friend at the same time she is looking at her as her quarry. Her grip on Gambol Shroud is white-knuckled and though it’s been many months since Weiss has had Myrtenaster, she longs for her rapier. Even if it wouldn’t be any help here since she’s grown so used to fighting as a wolf instead.
Their staring contest remains in silent and even Ruby is put off by the tension, choosing not to utter another word as she clings to the back of Weiss’s shirt. Standing over her shoulder to peer at Blake as well, even if the only one their teammate concentrates on (can she still be called that? Even if Blake chooses differently? Even if she chooses them as enemies?) is the werewolf. Another lungful and Weiss can detect that werepanther blood as clear as day.
Come on, Blake.
Let’s not make any hasty decisions here.
Let’s…
“Are they in there?” A voice from outside that she swears sounds like Yang- which makes sense, because where one goes, the other is sure to follow close behind- and Weiss strains her senses to determine if there is anyone else outside of these two. Maybe the rest of the armada roped them in to join the hunt, forcing Blake and Yang to track their family down for them.
With the noise of the spring always flowing and her heartbeat pounding in her ears, Weiss can’t tell if there are others. If her mind is playing tricks on her and the footsteps she picks up on is someone else other than Yang.
Gods, her body hurts. The blood is still flowing and with how tightly sprung she’s holding herself, ready to pounce, it’s only making it worse. If it does come down to a fight, she doubts she’ll even be able to defend Ruby, let alone herself.
But she’s sure as hell going to try.
Until her dying breath.
Well, Blake?
Weiss is the first to ease out of her battle stance, forcing her shoulders to relax as she remains kneeled on the ground. Her frozen snarl shifting to a somber frown. Maintaining eye contact with Blake but leaving the ball in her court. She raises a brow.
What’s it going to be?
What do you choose?
Blake exhales- shaky, shaky, shaky- and glances away long enough to view her weapon. The dark coloration of the blades that catch the reflection of the moonlight coming in from behind her, the sharp tip glinting to accentuate its deadly capabilities. And Weiss could, in theory, take advantage of this now that Blake isn’t focused on her. She could launch a surprise attack that would hopefully turn the tides in their favor and though she might not be able to actually touch her- because of her damn semblance- it could at least give her a warning.
But Weiss holds still. Allowing Blake the chance to work through whatever thoughts and emotions that are running through her mind at the moment. For the werepanther masquerading as a Faunus, choosing to be a huntress despite knowing about the innocent lives she’s taking, she must be in turmoil. Perhaps just as aware of the choice she has to make right here and now as Weiss is.
And after a minute of pondering, Blake comes to her decision.
She sheathes Gambol Shroud… and tosses it forward. It lands with a clatter against the rocks in the space between them, and though she’s still very much capable of reaching it before Weiss can because of the small space they’ve found themselves in, the intention is clear.
I’m not going to hurt you.
“Yeah,” Blake finally answers her partner from outside, taking a step aside so she’s not blocking the entrance. “They’re both here.”
There is a rush of movement that comes closer and closer and within seconds, Yang is sprinting down the slope and entering the cave like her life depends on it. Needing to see for herself that what she’s said is true-
And the second her eyes land on Ruby, her relief is palpable.
“Oh thank fuck.” Ever eloquent with words, that one is. Despite the tension that lingers, Weiss can’t help the small snicker that overtakes her. “I thought you were… I got scared that you…”
She doesn’t finish any of her sentences, leaving them incomplete as she crosses the expanse of the cave without any sign of delay. And Weiss hates that her first instinct upon her approach is to cower back in preparation, remembering the many, many times that she’s been on the receiving end of Yang’s fury and flaming fists, but there is no danger here. Blake’s promised as much and Yang keeps it with how her only concern is getting to her sister.
Equally, Ruby rushes out from behind Weiss (much to her chagrin) and all but throws herself at Yang in a fierce embrace.
“We heard what happened,” Blake murmurs from where she is, remaining by the entrance itself and not daring to come closer for a reason Weiss can’t place. (Like… she isn’t allowing herself the pleasure or the privilege of being next to her family.) “Saw it too, from our window.”
“We tried coming, I swear we tried,” Yang explains even as she doesn’t let go of Ruby, holding her sister close and sheltering her near her heart as if that alone can save her from the world. Who knows? Maybe it can. There’s a flicker of heat that makes the space a tad bit more suffocating than before, but Weiss is soothed by the warmth of it. “But we were locked in the dorm. I had to break the damn door down.”
Weiss glances between the two of them, gaping, “Ozpin locked you in?”
“Almost as if he didn’t want us to come and help you two.” Blake keeps a majority of her attention at the cave entrance, cat ears flicking this way and that the same way wolf ears do. Both of them keep on alert. “There were assigned people in the hallways as well, intending to slow us down. We barely escaped Goodwitch too, it… wasn’t fun.”
“Looking back,” Yang chuckles, finally pulling away from Ruby and going about fixing up the makeshift bandage wrapping for her without needing any prompting, “probably would’ve been smarter to just bust through the window instead.”
“We were on the top floor of the tower, Yang.”
“We’ve survived worse falls before. Need I remind you that we were launched into the Emerald Forest once?”
Blake fondly rolls her eyes in lieu of a response, directing her attention back to Weiss. So abrupt, it makes her jump. Especially when her friend bluntly states, “You’re still bleeding.”
Yes, it’s starting to become extremely uncomfortable.
“Yeah, aren’t you supposed to have super-healing or something?” Yang glances her way as well, finally. Purple peeks up to her ears before darting back down to her face like she’s forcing herself not to stare. Forcing herself to smile. Forcing herself to tease, “What happened to that werewolf constitution?”
“Silver bullet,” Weiss clears her throat to try and dislodge the ball of emotions- conflicted or otherwise- sitting at the hollow like it’s found a home there. There are… so many things she wants to say and so many things she’s trying to process, she’s losing track of it all. “Nix is working on it.”
“Nix?"
“Her wolf,” Ruby answers for her, perking up with a grin, “She’s very soft and cuddly.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“How did you guys find us?” Weiss does her best to put them back onto track, ignoring the faint heat to her cheeks as she narrows her eyes toward the opening. “And more importantly, did anyone follow you?”
“As far as we’re aware, no. We got away from them, though I don’t doubt that the huntsmen and huntresses currently out there are also searching for us now.”
“And besides,” Yang cuts in, tossing a thumb in her partner’s direction, “Blake is the best person in the world at tracking wolves. Figured we’d put it to good use.”
Blue meets gold and the secret shared between them is apparent in the way Blake shifts in place nervously, a hidden plea to her features. And Weiss doesn’t even need to ask her to know that Blake hasn’t told Ruby and Yang about her true heritage. About what she really is.
Well, that complicates things now, doesn’t it?
How long, Blake?
How long are you going to keep up this lie?
(However long I can get away with it.)
“I guess you can say,” Blake surreptitiously taps the side of her nose when the other two aren’t looking, only making it noticeable to Weiss, “I had a hunch.”
Scent tracking. Of course.
Perhaps not as strong as Weiss’s sense of smell is now, a werepanther’s ability is still leagues better than any Faunus or human is capable of.
Weiss has no idea how it wasn’t so obvious before in any of their other hunts. The way Blake always seemed to know the exact direction to take for them to find their prey. Always taking a second to pause if she ever did get lost and wait for the wind to blow before immediately taking off again like she caught their scent on the draft.
She can’t believe she missed so many signs.
“Now,” Yang brings them back on track with a more serious air about her, double and triple checking to make sure the bandage on Ruby’s shoulder is properly secured for the time being. It’s not a permanent solution, but it should hold out long enough until they either get proper medical supplies or until Ruby’s aura comes back to do the work for them. She steps back with her hands on her hips, studying her sister for a long moment before doing the same with Weiss and it’s all Weiss can do not to turn away from her critical observation. “I don’t know everything that’s going on and I have… a ton of questions and that’s a serious understatement, but…”
She softens now as purple eyes lift from her face back to her wolf ears. And Weiss has never felt so self-conscious before, half of her wanting to cover them with her hands while the other wants to stand straighter. Tall and proud. Because this is who she is now. This is a part of her.
And Yang sees that.
She sees her.
Purple meets blue again and Yang smiles, “I’m not going to leave either of you two behind. So, just lead the way and I’ll follow. Even if that means, you know… hanging out with a bunch of wolves.”
It’s a light jest near the end that doesn’t quite meet its mark. Weiss has never known her jokes and teasing to fail so miserably and so consistently compared to now.
It’s almost sad to watch.
“They’re not terrible people, Yang,” Ruby murmurs before Weiss can and it warms her from the inside out. Because her partner says it and she means it, she means it with every fiber of her being, and it only makes her fall more and more in love with her. It only further solidifies the difficult truth that Weiss has had trouble accepting herself: that the wolves aren’t the bad guys, that she isn’t the bad guy. “They’ve just been trying to survive. That’s all.”
“Yeah… I’m starting to understand that.” She trails off, her entire body drooping with what could only be guilt and regret and it’s such a startling sight to see Yang of all people crumbling that it has the three of them stepping forward. Weiss takes a single, cautious one while Blake takes multiple and Ruby reaches for her- but all three of them freeze where they are when their teammate suddenly runs a palm down her face, as if to pluck out her emotions by hand and toss them aside like they’re something that can so easily get rid of, and perks up again with a winning grin. Fake, fake, fake. “Whatever the case, we need to get the hell out of here. This cave isn’t exactly the best place to hide and while Blake and I weren’t followed, there are still people looking for you two. So it’s best if we skedaddle.”
“Yang…” Blake tries, not wanting to let whatever that was seconds ago escape from them.
Because Yang is an expert on avoiding serious conversations when she doesn’t want to have them. Be it with playful distractions and relentless teasing or simply just shutting down and keeping quiet- and if it ever gets really bad and they insist on pushing, that’s when she’ll get angry. That’s when she’ll snap at someone to Drop it.
If they don’t address this now, there’s no telling when they’ll be able to because clearly Yang has a lot to work through. Just like Blake. Just like Ruby. Just like all of them do.
But, begrudging as she is to admit it, Yang is right.
They can’t stay here. Not on hunter’s land, it isn’t safe.
“Weiss,” Ruby understands that too, just as much as Weiss does, and she’s just as reluctant as her to let it go… but some things take higher priority, “Do you know the fastest route there that won’t take the students to Hinan?”
“If we want to throw them off completely, it would be best to cut through Forever Fall and take the long way to the city.” Weiss concentrates on her mental map of the area. Her recollection on this side of the Emerald Forest has grown foggy over time but she still remembers enough to pinpoint where they are in comparison to the city. Sure, they can just go straight there, but if there is even one potential hunter tracking them, she does not want to lead them to their home. “It will be a longer trip, but I would feel a lot more comfortable than going right for Hinan. This way, I can also alert the pack and call for help.”
The constant night patrols forever scouting the forests for Grimm should be waiting on high alert for any message from her. Whether one calling for help or an alert that something is coming their way that she can’t stop or a sign that things have ended peacefully.
“Can you even make it there?” From one blink to the next, Blake is suddenly right next to her and Weiss has a difficult time focusing on her, her vision blurred. She has to squint for her to be visible.
The implications of her words- you can’t, you’re too weak, you’re too- brings an indignant grumble to her chest, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Silver bullets are nothing to scoff at. I’m surprised you’re still standing,” she nods her head down to the dark red stains of her shirt, “but that’s not stopping, Weiss. It won’t stop on its own. And transforming back into Nix will only speed up the blood loss, and you’ll be in excruciating pain. You might even go feral simply because of how bad it is."
Nix, Weiss calls to her wolf, doing her best to keep her breaths even despite how difficult it’s starting to get as the agony continues to climb, Is that true?
And Nix…
Weiss blinks, furrowing her brow and closing her eyes. Honing in on that connection she has with the wolf that rests within.
…Nix doesn’t answer.
It marks the first time Weiss has ever felt detached from her wolf.
Oh, she fucking hates it. She never realized how much she relied on the comfort of that bond, of knowing that someone is always there for her, ready to protect her, until now. Until it’s been stripped away from her, that thread connecting them severing. When she goes to coax the beast, the one thing that reverberates in her mind is a low, warning growl. It sets her heart racing, her breaths becoming harder and faster and more shallow and-
“Hey.” Hands on either side of her face, cupping her cheeks, has her attempting to struggle away but the person holds firm, and when wriggle free doesn’t work, Weiss resorts to baring her teeth and echoes that warning growl into the air. But the person is undeterred. “Don’t growl. Look at me, Weiss.”
“What’s going on?” Someone from the side, everything is starting to blur and spin too much for her to recognize who it is. “Blake?”
Dizzy.
The nauseous sensation increases, something previously muffled and easy to ignore escalating to an unbearable degree and it has her squeezing her eyes shut, leaning forward into the person’s arms- Blake, it’s Blake- until she can rest her forehead against their shoulder. Her sides where the bullet tore through pulses in sync with her heartbeat like they have one of their own and she swears she can physically feel the poison of the silver traveling through her veins. A sickening wave washes over her that brings trembles to her body.
Their voices are muffled- but she always has one ear turned to wherever Ruby is every time she speaks- so she can’t entirely make out everything they’re discussing, but from what she can tell, Blake mentions something in regards to spirit detachment. Which is essentially what occurs whenever a feral state is induced, or a phenomenon that happens that can induce one, outside of the moon’s effect. Where the spirit of the wolf either withdraws into itself to where the human half can no longer feel it, or the wolf itself simply takes over. Caused by extreme conditions or fearful ramifications, such as severe blood loss or silver poisoning- or, in her case, both.
It’s not enough to kill her, so the threat of death doesn’t exist.
It’s just enough to be downright torturous. Not even in a solely painful way, in a way Weiss can’t even begin to explain.
It feels like a part of her is missing. Like the pieces of her soul that Nix takes up usually is left empty. And that aching, cavernous vacancy brings about a fear in her she knew she’s always had.
Loneliness.
She feels so alone. Even with Blake right in front of her, holding her, physically touching her. It’s like she and Ruby and Yang are on a different plane of existence and it’s just her. Just Weiss. With not even the wolf there to keep her company like Nix had promised to do.
A familiar touch to one of her hands has her drowsily peeking that way beside her, not even realizing that she’s been crying up until now when she blinks the tears away and finds lovely silver. Home, home, home. Ruby brings her knuckles up to her lips to leave a delicate little peck, smiling at her in as calming a manner as possible, and it has Weiss all but lunging for her. Leaving the space of Blake’s arms to cling to her partner. Her mate. Her love.
Not alone, Weiss whimpers as she buries her face into the side of her neck, ignoring the stench of blood so close and latching onto the aroma of roses instead. I’m not alone. I’m not alone.
Not when she has her.
Not when she has them. Within moments, she is being swaddled from all sides as Blake and Yang join in the embrace as well. They, too, smell of home.
It makes the pain lessen just a little bit.
Because for the first time in months, she finally gets to be with her entire team again. The one thing that she’s dreamed about ever since she woke up in this nightmare of being a werewolf now and learning the truth of the world she’s lived in. Her one motivation that’s kept her alive. Everything she’s ever worked for, everything she’s ever wanted was to get back to them.
And now, they’re here. All four of them, together.
“It’s okay. It’s okay, Weiss,” Ruby whispers to her, brushing her fingers through long white hair. “Nix will be back, she just needs some rest.”
Perhaps in an effort to protect Weiss from feeling the full effects of the silver, Nix took all of that for herself. (And if that’s the case, how much worse is it actually? Because it’s already too much to bear, so what would it be like if Nix hadn’t taken that damage away from her? Weiss fears to know the answer.)
Nix will be back.
Weiss won’t be alone forever. She’ll get her wolf back.
In the meantime, her family will have to fill up the empty spaces that Nix has left behind.
And it’s safe to say, they more than accomplish that.
(Home.
I’m finally home.)