Chapter Text
Wind whipping by as she approaches the cliffside, Yang looks out over the lush, rolling greens of the Emerald Forest, past the crumbling ruins of some old military academy, beyond to the city of Vale. Skyscrapers dominating its skyline, the ever-present glow of the city’s lights and life reaching outwards in all directions, even in this early hour of the day. The University of Vale Campus, which had been her home for the last few years, sits on the outskirts of downtown, seemingly dead with the beginning of summer. Looking out over the bay, the sun reflecting off the azure waves as it slowly rises, she sees the island of Patch. Even at this great distance, the greens of the forest that filled her home island can be made out, with a small break near the shore, along the cove where the town sits. Ferries and cargo ships fill the bay, some with the clearly visible logo of the SDC stamped on the side.
Turning around quickly, the wind threw her hair up as she walked back to the parking lot. Mounting her bike, she looks back towards Patch and Vale one last time, before turning into a black and yellow blur as she speeds off into the oranges, reds, and yellows of the Forever Fall Forest, and towards the town of Mountain Glenn.
The winding roads gave way to a clearing against the mountains. In it sat Mountain. Glenn, a town smaller than the island of Patch. Small brick buildings scattered across the main streets, with larger homes radiating outwards for a ways, eventually giving to the tall trees of the forest. Passing by a large building on the edge of town with a sign saying “Brunswick Lumberyard,” Yang drives the short distance into town. Slowing down as she hits one of the main roads, Yang pulls up in front of a short building. Briefly looking up at her new home, Yang heads towards the side of Ayana Grocers, and up to her apartment.
Walking down a small hallway, she finds her door open. Making her way into the sparsely furnished apartment, small living room only filled with stacks of cardboard boxes. Next to it is a small counter separating it from the kitchen. On the far side of the room are doors to the bedrooms and bathroom. “Hey Pyrrha!” Yang shouts out, looking around briefly before adding “Where are you?”
A voice comes from the bedroom, “I’m in here!” Yang started heading over when Pyrrha pops into the doorframe.
“Hey, thanks for helping me move.”
“It’s no problem I don’t mind helping a friend out, especially if it means you’ll start working with me and Jaune sooner.” She responds jokingly.
“Yeah, I really appreciate the help, wasn’t expecting it to take that long to get out here, but it looks like I was wrong.”
“Road to Vale is longer than most think, and it would have taken longer if you had to move all of this with that bike of yours.”
“I’ll have you know that Bumblebee can move as much as she likes, it just happens that she doesn’t like to move much.”
“And that has nothing to do with it only fitting about 2 people and having almost no storage space.”
“Nope” Yang answers, popping the p. “How are you and Jaune doing? I hope he is not too bored at work while you have fun building things and helping move boxes with me.”
“He’s not actually working right now, we are closed for the day. Jaune is currently out picking up some food for us. I think he was going to get Mistralian.”
“Okay, but I will pay him back for the whole meal, gotta make helping me out worth your while somehow.”
The two continue to catch up as they work together to unpack the boxes and start assembling the furniture. A knock came at the door interrupting them. Yang jumps up, looking at Pyrrha quickly. “I’ll get it, probably Jaune with the food.” Hurriedly heading for the door, she is surprised when she doesn’t find a gentile, calm looking gentleman on the other side, and instead a woman wearing a knee length purple skirt, black tank top, small coat whose lavender color matched that of Yang’s eyes and a large black bow. Eyes of liquid amber meet hers, as the woman extends an arm. “Hello, I heard someone new was moving in today, I’m Blake Belladonna, nice to meet you…” She trails off, the softness of her voice and pacing of her words enrapturing Yang’s mind.
“Yang…” She responds, more focused on the style of her hair, the color of her lips, her eyes filled with liquid gold. Suddenly realizing that she hadn’t really given her name yet, Yang quickly corrects with “I’m Yang Xiao Long, nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you Yang. I hope you like it here.” She chuckles as Pyrrha walks into view. “Oh, Hi Pyrrha, I hope the move is going well.”
“So far it is. Just unpacking boxes and building furniture at this point” She responds while picking up a furniture box.
“That’s nice of you.” Blake says while checking her phone. “I’m sorry to leave so soon, but I need to get back to the store. Have a good day you two.”
“You too!” Yang shouts down the hall as the raven-haired women leaves.
“That was kinda strange, how did she know I was moving in?”
“I mentioned to it her when I was last by her shop. She asked if she could stop by during her lunch to meet you. Did the same for me and Jaune when we moved in, just stopped by, said hi, and left.”
After having finished unpacking the immediately necessary things, Pyrrha and Jaune take Yang out to show her around town. “So over there is Portsmouth Pub, the owner is really nice, but he will tell incredibly long stories to anyone who sits at the bar.” Jaune says, pointing at the first level of a red brick building. A sign reading ‘Portsmouth Pub’ sits above the front, with a stylized ships wheel on the end of it.
“And that’s why we always grab a booth off to the side, otherwise we’d be stuck there till last call.” Pyrrha adds, eliciting a brief chuckle from the others. “That large building with the small clocktower on it is Beacon Library, and over there is Blake’s shop.” Yang looks over to where Pyrrha is pointing. A small standalone store with a sign reading ‘The Wilting Nightshade.’ At the end of the sign is an artfully painted flower, drooping over.
“What’s she sell?” Yang asks, staring at the storefront.
“Oh, she sells books, magazines, boardgames, and such. I’ve found some good fiction in there, and several books that have helped me with some of the projects for work.”
“Neat.” She says, too busy thinking about the bookstore’s owner to say more.
The way Blake looked when she walked away from Yang’s apartment, the slight sway in her step and the way she carried herself down the stairs. Her way with words that just captured Yang’s mind. She wanted all of them for herself. The golden amber of her eyes stuck in her mind, sticky as sap.
“OH!”
Yang jumps slightly at the sudden noise, looking over to see Jaune pointing towards a small white building with a sign that was just a cone of tri-color ice cream. “Over there is Neo’s Creamery. It’s been closed for a week, but the owner makes the best ice cream.” Jaune shouts excitedly, dragging Yang back to reality. “They are really quiet all the time and some really fancily dressed guy hangs out there constantly, but the ice cream is great!”
Wandering about a bit longer Yang is shown a small diner, a local coffee shop, and finally the Arkos Fabricators building before they all went for dinner.
“So, I hope you like it here.” Jaune says before taking a bite out of a large single slice of pizza. “There’s plenty of cool stuff we didn’t get to show you today, like the park, the old Valean church, the hiking trails that take you up the mountains …”
“I’m sure we’ll have time for all that later. For now, lets just let Yang get settled.” Pyrrha says, filling in as Jaune trailed off. Turning to Yang, Pyrrha adds ``For tomorrow, we don’t usually start till 10am most days. You’ve also got it pretty nice, only a few minute walk away from the workshop.”
They continue to chat for a while, until Pyrrha says its time to call it a night. Yang walks back to her apartment, and basically collapses into bed.
Yang is back in the cabin, attempting to light the fireplace. She drops the match onto the logs, brief sparks of light appear as it catches on the kindling. Adding some fuel, the logs crackle as the fire starts to grow. She sits down nearby to warm up and get some rest. Grabbing the backpack she filled quickly earlier that night, Yang sets herself up on the couch, laying down to take a brief nap.
Relaxing gently, eyes slowly fluttering shut, until she sees sparks fly out of the hearth, landing on the old rug nearby. The rug catches instantly, flames growing. Yang gets up, trying to find some way to put it out. The fire spreads quickly throughout the old hunting cabin, latching onto anything it can. Yang, now surrounded by the inferno, searches for any way out of there. Smoke is starting to fill the cabin, causing each breath to be harder and harder.
Falling to the ground, all Yang can see is the flames towering over her, surrounding her. They won’t let her escape. They won’t let her survive. They reach outwards to her, as she gasps for air, collapsing.
Yang shoots up in bed, dizzy. Looking around the room, she finds that it feels unfamiliar, foreign, wrong. Heart pounding in her chest, feeling like its trying to escape, the pounding surrounding her head as she sits in bed. Her lungs ache as she breathes faster and faster. Sweat covering her, sticking to her, overwhelming her senses. Scared out of her mind, thoughts racing, she tries to find a way to escape the heat. Trying to slow her breathing, all she can do is cough, feeling the smoke in her lungs.
Suddenly she notices movement in the shadows in the corner of her room. Still struggling to breathe as she looks around for the intruder. Panic slowly growing, until she feels soft fur rubbing against the bottom of her arm. Looking down she sees a small black cat rubbing its head against her arm, quietly purring. Slowly moving her arm, Yang goes to pet it, briefly scratching it behind the ears every time she moves her hand back to its head. Her heartrate slows as the petting and purring calm her down, and Yang eventually finds herself drifting back to sleep with the cat curled up with her.