Chapter Text
Blake woke up in a sudden sweat, her back hurting and her nerves shot. She struggled to get out from under the covers, looking at the clock when she managed to free herself from the silken chains.
2:38
“Damn, it's still night.” She cursed to herself as she tried to calm herself down. She’d been living in a cheap hotel for about a week at this point, still looking for a job and stable living. She’d just ‘moved’ to Patch, after she needed a bit of a retreat from the rest of her life. Patch was a specific choice but she didn’t know why, when she looked at the map of places she could possibly go that weren’t too densely populated she felt a familiarity with Patch, which caused her to ignore any other options and go for it.
The hotel was ran by a friendly woman named Pyrrha, and due to the lack of common guests Pyrrha had gotten to know Blake quite well, and they were fast friends. Despite all that Blake hardly knew anything about the people of patch, there was Taiyang known for his woodworking prowess, a few small diners run by friends of Pyrrha’s (Who wasn’t her friend in Patch at this point.), and maybe a local business or two.
Blake decided to stay up since she had no responsibilities in the morning and was already feeling too awake to sleep again. She ended up grabbing some of the hotel's supplies for making tea and began to boil some water with the electric kettle. Blake flicked through her phone while waiting for the water and was seeing if there were any interesting jobs available in Patch and she noticed one that jumped out to her. The infamous Taiyang is looking for a new apprentice, except it's not for him, it’s for his daughter.
Considering every possibility she had, she decided to look into the job. Woodworking wasn’t exactly her strong suit but the apprentice position was incredibly basic, and taught her the skills she would need. Her being a cat faunus she figured she could have some natural skill at things requiring precision, and a hobby might be nice to pick up. She submitted her resume she had prepared a few nights before, after some quick adjustments of course, and like clockwork the water was boiled and she began to make herself some tea. Pyrrha being the hard worker she is, was still up, and since the hotel was small and had only one guest as of now she decided to check on Blake when she heard noises from her room.
Knock
Knock
Knock
“Blake? Are you there?” Pyrrha called out to her as she began to get a little worried.
“Oh, Yeah! It’s just me, woke up and couldn’t fall asleep so I made some tea.”
“Alright, You okay? Need anything?”
“Actually, could you come in here for a moment? I want to talk to you about something.”
Worried, Pyrrha began to fumble for the master keys when Blake had come up to the door herself and had opened it up for her. “Come in, please.” Blake said quietly despite them being the only ones in the building. As Pyrrha began to sit on the bed, Blake started to talk, “Can you… tell me more about Taiyang’s woodworking stuff?” Intrigued by Blakes sudden interest Pyrrha perked up, leaning in closer. “Well, what do you want to know? More importantly, why do you want to know?” Blake expected the why and was prepared to tell the truth to Pyrrha this time, unlike when she told her why she was living in Patch. “Well I’d been looking for a job and there was a paid apprenticeship under him, except it was for his Daughter…”
“Ah the young firecracker, Yang, She’s a sweet girl, however a bit easy to excite.”
“Yang… that name sounds familiar, comfortable even…”
“Well she’s quite known around town, it’s no wonder you at least recognize the name, however be careful, if you tick her off she can send you to the hospital in one punch, but I doubt you’d do that.” Pyrrha reassured the faunus girl. Pyrrha noticed a sense of dread developing on Blakes face and tried to comfort her, she was aware she hadn’t been told the entire truth but she never pushed it, she was positive Blake both needed her peace & deserved it.
“Hey disregard that, she wouldn’t actually do that, she has manners at the very least so you don’t have to worry about her being rude, and you’re a respectable woman, she would never.” Blake finally snapped out of her spiral and looked at Pyrrha. She observed Blake, examining her face, which was painted all over with worry, her eyes hollow if but for a moment. Taking note to tread cautiously, Pyrrha called out Blakes name, trying to get her to respond at least.
“Yeah, Yeah… sorry, I just… lost in thought is all…”
“Do you want to talk about it…? I understand if you don’t.” Pyrrha, wanting the best for who she considered a friend, wanted to help in any way possible.
“Not tonight… Anyway! About Yang? You said a bit of a firecracker but sweet?”
“Sweeter than pie, that girl just loves what she does and makes sure no one forgets it”
Curious, Blake wondered what she meant by “makes sure no one forgets it.” “What do you mean by that exactly? Make sure no one forgets it?”
“Ah well… It’s easier if I show you, Follow me?”
Blake followed the fiery headed woman until they reached the manager's office, As Pyrrha stood inside she invited Blake in. Every wall was lined with shelves, and atop them were miniature wooden figurines, each themed after a specific holiday, except for 4 that stood out compared to the obvious seasonal themed ones. “Wow… Are all of these..?”
“Mhm! Made by Ms. Xiao Long herself!”
“They’re so… detailed… all of these made just by her?”
“Absolutely! She’s a great person, you’ll love her I’m sure. Ah! I almost forgot, there's one more member of that family, Ruby Rose. She’s more practical when it comes to wood work, specifically she likes things that can be used as weapons, watch yourself around her, she’ll definitely try to get you to test some out.”
“Ruby, Yang… why do these names sound so so familiar?”
“You sure you’ve never been to patch? You seem to only recognize the people who stayed here rather than those who are recent additions to the island.”
“I… Don’t know… My parents and I went on lots of trips when I was younger, maybe that was it, we went here one time… Wasn’t there another person in the family..? A woman with reddish hair, Summer or something?”
As Blake finished that sentence she noticed the immediate frown on Pyrrha’s face, something was wrong with what she just said, and the name was far from it.
“Summer… Summer Rose, mother of Ruby and Yang. She died of sickness when Ruby was just four.”