Chapter Text
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A string of successes
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It's been three weeks since the Ever After crew had arrived in Vacuo, which apparently had been a week shy of two months overall since the fall of Atlas. The first two weeks they'd been back were marked by scattered fighting, Salem's forces having encroached very close to the kingdom. However, the tides had turned in the first week of their reappearance. Not only did their friends and family have their vigor renewed by their return, but several small groups of huntsmen that lived beyond the kingdoms had arrived with aid of their own and had pushed back to a sizeable distance away from civilization. All of the current and former student teams, including RWBY, had joined the efforts to help stave off the constant attacks. As a result, they had reached what Theodore had considered to be a good point to rest and regroup.
The last week was spent with the younger teams only having to do recon work around the kingdom's borders and a short distance beyond, but nothing too strenuous. Now, however, the headmaster had calculated that they would have at least a month, maybe even as much as 6 weeks to relax. Everyone was considered responsible for the recent successes, but it was an infiltration mission led by Coco and Sun -with background support from Ruby- into an experimental nest of bio-grimm mutant hybrids that had done a great deal of damage in particular to Salem's army. After taking a convoy of armed vehicles and eager huntsmen into a network of caves the creatures had infested, they managed to identify and destroy five separate 'growth chambers' of some sort that had been producing the deadliest of their adversaries. This not only stopped new spawns, but they had also sabotaged the support systems of the caves on their way out, collapsing the entire makeshift facility.
Although this was a time of rest and relaxation, the higher ups of Vacuo's defense requested half of the members of each team to volunteer, if possible, for a short trip to a nearby nation that had supplied a good chunk of the backup huntsmen, weapons, and rations that had contributed to their success. It was known as Rudeeze, and it had been serving as a communication hub between Vacuo and the other outlying groups and villages that had allied themselves against Salem. They had been willing to take in over half of the refugees from Atlas and Mantle during the initial chaos in order to better protect them as well, though they seemed to favor taking in the Mantle citizens over Atlas. While Theodore personally found playing politics at this stage a bit distasteful, a part of him also understood their reticence to have to so quickly be forced associate with Atlesians right away. In the midst of the main conflict, however, it became a non-issue relatively quickly. The trip itself still counted as part of the 'vacation', since the only thing those sent there would really be doing is helping to connect with the refugees from Atlas and Mantle and provide some friendly faces. The leaders of the nation even said that the group would face minimal combat at best, wanting to reward their recent efforts with a tour of their cultural sites and a change of scenery.
Yatsuhashi and Velvet jumped at the idea of a getaway. Ren surprised everyone by wanting to join Jaune, who himself was in sore need of an outing to clear his head. Scarlet and Sage had volunteered to go as well. They hoped to have some peace and quiet instead of getting wrapped up in whatever mayhem Sun might inadvertently cause by trying to have too much 'fun' back in Vacuo. Weiss saw this trip as her chance to be a symbol of positivity from Atlas, taking any chance she could to further show the good her people could bring. Yang said she'd join her for support, but she was also trying to get away from Raven after a particularly poor encounter with her last week. Ruby had offered to go instead, thinking that Blake could provide the needed emotional support to deal with her mother, but she eventually backed down when Yang admitted she just needed to get away entirely. And so the groups had been formed and they got ready to head out, eager to see what the coming weeks had in store for them.
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Preparations
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They departed early in the evening. Yang and Weiss said their goodbyes to the team as the others did the same with theirs. A long kiss goodbye left Blake feeling a mixture of longing and determination. Yang had made a good point after all; their last separation had been forced upon them, and without them having truly confessed to each other. Now, they could handle being apart, with no feelings left unspoken. Ruby had given Weiss and Yang a hug goodbye and wished them luck. Then, she had turned in early while the others, Blake included, spent the rest of the night around the central plaza in the residential part of the city; A group dinner, checking out the theatre, and the like. At the end of a fun night, Blake headed back to the living quarters. She and Yang shared a room while Ruby and Weiss had their own, the two spaces connected by a full bathroom. This layout seemed to be the norm in the part of the kingdom they had been set up in. After changing into her pajamas, washing her face, and brushing her teeth, she was ready for bed. She made a move to knock on Ruby's door before heading back to her own room, but she could see lights were out. She held her palm up to the door for half a minute before finally pulling away.
"I should let her rest..." She thought to herself.
The single bed felt lonely without her partner, but it was certainly no less comfortable. She slept through the whole night, feeling refreshed despite waking up before the alarm she had set. As she switched it off before it could ring, she caught a glimpse of the Beacon team photo she had made the background of her settings page. Ruby's energetic smile contrasting with Blake's at-best modest expression stood out to her. She opened up a group photo of the four of them with teams CFVY, SSSN, and ORNJ after they had reunited in Vacuo. Looking closely, she could just make out a slight smile on Ruby's face, but her eyes looked more somber than anything else, at least compared to the rest of the crew. As Blake compared that change to her own glowing expression in that same image, her vision blurred slightly. After being startled by a knock on her door, she blinked and wiped her eyes with her sleeve, her vision back to normal.
"Mornin' Blake!" Nora said as she opened the door. "You wanna grab some breakfast? Sun had an idea he wanted to run by us. I was also thinking we could hang out near the market later if you're not too busy."
"Oh, uhh, sure!" Blake replied, her voice a bit shaky. She held up her hand to her throat and swallowed a bit. "Sorry, guess I'm still waking up. Is it just you and me?"
"That's okay! And nah, Coco and Fox will be there too. I think Sun was thinking of setting up a call with Jaune and Ren for his plan."
"Plan?" Blake asked, slightly amused. Her eyes then narrowed to slits. "He's not cooking up something that's gonna get us in trouble, is he?"
"Noooo! Of course not!" Nora exclaimed, showing her hands as she laughed. "I think they're trying to set up a joint event for the people here in Vacuo and the ones in Rudeeze."
Blake's ears perked up and she raised an eyebrow. This actually sounded like it could be fun. "Okay, let's go." She said as they started walking.
True to Nora's word, Coco and Fox were waiting at Dune's, a popular breakfast and lunch spot close to the academy. When Sun showed up, he already had Ren and Jaune on a conference call ready to discuss their plan. Blake wasn't sure what to expect, but she was pleasantly surprised at the reveal. Sun and Ren had apparently spent weeks, not just mere days, coordinating with the headmaster himself to bring a special event between Vacuo and Rudeeze to life should their efforts fighting Salem bear significant enough progress. The event was a multi-day festival of sorts, with live music, dancing, a movie marathon and a few kinds of different entertainment all happening at the same time. Different parts of the kingdom would be dedicated to different events. The first day would have each city doing their own versions of the festival. The following days would have each event being broadcasted between the two cities with augmented reality set up so that people from each area could hang out together. One example of this was that many of the local restaurants in Vacuo were coordinating with their counterparts in Rudeeze to have a friendly cookoff. They even synced their menus so people could eat together no matter where they were.
Coco was probably the most hyped for this, and even Fox couldn't resist showing some excitement. Nora, as expected, was practically bouncing off the walls at the prospect. Blake was most interested in the movie marathon and live music. The central park had been chosen for the live music, which would be visible from the cafe that Blake favored, and the cafe itself would be streaming a mixture of mystery and action-comedies, two of Blake's favorites. The amount of preparation that went into this was so much more intense than Blake had expected from Sun, and she was beyond shocked that Weiss wasn't involved in the planning, given her love for organizing events. She could still recall the time Weiss had been planning the Beacon Dance as the most delightful she had been at the time.
"Please everyone, no need to tell me what a genius I am!" Sun proclaimed triumphantly, standing on the table bench while posing like a hero. Blake referred to it as his 'I go where I'm needed' stance. Fox could barely hide a smile while Coco and Nora laughed. Blake could just make out a sigh from Ren over the scroll.
"Sun, this was a group effort." Ren interjected. Sun crossed his arms, not dropping his smile. "But yes, I think this could be a great way to show that nothing can keep us down"
"Also," Fox began to add, "It could help all of us become closer, even among our individual teams." Blake's ears suddenly perked up while Coco wore a proud smile on her face. Between Yatsu and Velvet taking more active roles with the people of Vacuo and Fox displaying his own confidence, she was a proud leader. Nora and Sun leaned in closer, practically mesmerized by Fox's words. Or maybe him speaking without using his semblance was still a wondrous experience for them.
"What I mean," He continued, "Is that this is a great way to find shared interests. Ren and Jaune discovered a mutual interest for slow dancing in one of the nightclubs didn't they, Nora?"
Nora blushed and smiled a little. "It *has* been a good way for them to unwind a bit. They still dance together from time to time. I'm glad that they can help eachother like that."
"Ooooo careful Nora, Jaune might be goin' for your man!" Coco teased, barely restaining a laugh afterward, followed by an amused reaction from Sun and a barely audible groan from an embarrassed Ren. Sage came up behind Ren, almost conveniently signaling that he and Velvet needed him for something so he ended the call on his end and wished his friends well.
"It's not like that Coco." Nora said, her face still flushed red. She coughed lightly and continued, "And besides, there's no... rule against people figuring eachother out. Just because Ren and I are together now doesn't mean there isn't room for other people in our lives, y'know? Even if it's not in the *exact* same way."
Blake felt her heart flutter a bit, but before she could think about why, Coco chimed in again.
"I'm only teasing Nora, and I agree with both you and Fox." She said. "C'mon guys, nobody here can deny that we *need* this. Not just us, but all the people between Vacuo and the other places as well. It feels like we've been fighting for our lives forever. It's important to remember what we're fighting *for*. Not just the world, but each other. All this could be a good reminder of that."
Fox, Nora, and Sun all nodded in agreement, with Blake following suit.
"Blake, you've been pretty quiet." Coco said. "Anything to add?" She quickly threw up her hands, "Not that you need to or anything!" Blake waved her off with a smile.
"Oh no no, it's fine, I was just thinking." She responded. "Yeah, these past couple of years have felt like forever. Moreso than any of the years leading up to it, even in my case."
"Really? That's surprising." Sun said, "I would've thought with all those years spent with the Whi-... Er, what I mean is, I thought these past couple of years wouldn't have felt all *that* different." Sun noticed a weary look from Blake, whos gaze had turned towards the floor. "Uhh, sorry Blake, I didn't mean to remi-..."
"Don't worry about it." She said. "You're right for the most part, but these past years have brought more change than I think any of us expected. And it's tested us all physically and psychologically. I'm just hoping we can all make it out in one piece."
"All the more reason to try and enjoy ourselves in the coming days." Fox said. "If nothing else, it'll distract us from all the doom and gloom for a bit, at least enough to get or keep our heads on straight for what's next." They all nodded once again, and relaxed at the table, just in time for their orders to arrive. Their focus shifted to Sun regaling them with tales of his youth in Vacuo, his attempt at keeping the mood light. They enjoyed the rest of their breakfast along with Sun's impromptu show.
Fox was right. Any chance to feel like things were normal was a blessing not to be squandered. And Blake was hardly lacking in excitement for the fun times either. Not just because she would be able to switch between the lively music and the quiet movie nights, but because this was her chance; Her chance to try and improve things with her and Ruby, something she couldn't bring herself to mention to the others. It was true that their team had been functioning very well on missions and from the outside, they looked as tight-knit as they could possibly be. But Blake had noticed that Ruby would scarcely look at her in particular, and when she did, she would avert her gaze out of...well, she wasn't quite sure yet. But she knew something was wrong. When they were off duty, Ruby barely hung out with the team, opting to spend time alone in the library or in the workshop, if not retiring to her room to sleep. In hindsight, her withdrawal was easy to miss and didn't seem particularly strange, given that Blake and Yang had spent most of their free time alone together while Weiss had wanted to reconnect with her mother and siblings. But now, Blake couldn't help but feel an ache in her heart for her leader. When the crew left for Rudeeze, Ruby had gone straight to bed rather than show any interest in the group's night out. Nobody had pressed her though, since she looked genuinely tired. But now was an opportunity to try and do something about all of this. The question was, how?
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Revealing Pain
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"what should I do...?" Blake muttered to herself as she walked through the town, having just left Dune's after the 'special assembly'. "There has to be a way to help y-..."
"You okay, Blake?" a voice called out as Blake nearly jumped in place. It was Nora, holding her coffee she had taken to go. "Ahh, sorry, didn't mean to startle you!"
"Oh no, that's okay" Blake replied, attempting an earnest smile. Unfortunately, just like when Nora had greeted her this morning, said smile was attempting to hide painful emotions, and she wasn't sure if she was being successful or not.
"If there's something that's bugging you, please don't hesitate to tell me." Nora said, confirming the latter. Nora's smile had remained on her face but her expression changed from her normal glow to a more concerned look. Blake let out a deep breath as she nodded. The two found a bench to sit on while Blake prepared to unburden herself.
"I'm worried about Ruby" Blake said, after a long moment of silence. "I know she's been doing her best since we all got back. I find how she's been handling things in the field pretty inspiring. And I think she's trying to put on a brave face with the rest of us but... I think... I think that buried beneath her smile, there's a cold pain that she's been keeping."
Nora waited a moment to respond. She turned her head away from Blake slightly, and drummed the fingers of her left hand on her knee for a bit before she turned back to her friend.
"What... kind of pain?" she finally asked, a slight stammer in her voice that Blake hadn't noticed. Blake took a deep breath with her eyes closed, and then opened them as she turned to Nora and began speaking again.
"I don't know how much Jaune as told you, if anything, about what happened between Ruby and the rest of us in the Ever After?" She said.
"He told me that he said and did some things he wasn't exactly patting himself on the back for," Nora responded, her voice a little more steady, "but not much more than that."
"Well," Blake continued, "Aside from Yang and I figuring things out, our time in that place wasn't exactly the best experience for any of us, but Ruby, in my opinion, got the worst of it. To be honest, it almost seemed like that world itself at times, not just the Curious Cat, was trying to rip her psyche to shreds. And I think I've played a part in it too."
"How do you mean?"
"During our time there, I think Ruby kept getting reminded of everything that had gone wrong in Atlas. She found a sword of Penny's that had made its way down there, then lost it, just like she lost her. She tried to find ways to lead us out of that world, only for Weiss, Yang and I to end up shrunken and helpless. We tried putting our trust in the cat, only to have been led to one disaster after another by them, on purpose as it later turned out. Then there was Neo, who kept hunting her relentlessly."
"That sounds awful," Nora said, "Jaune mentioned he met up with you guys after those Jabberwalker things attacked you. What happened then?"
"Things got worse is what happened." Blake's arms were pressed against her chest, elbows cradled in each hand. "Jaune took us to his village of Paper Pleasers to rest for a bit. Things were calm for a bit, but the next day was...horrible."
"The Paper Pleasers..." Nora repeated, "He mentioned that he had tried to keep a group of people under his care, only to regret doing so. He didn't say more than that. Were these them?"
"Yes." Blake said, "He had been keeping them from ascending against their wishes, thinking he was protecting them. Neo and her Jabberwalkers attacked the village distracted him from stopping them. That was the catalyst for everything that went wrong after that."
"What happened?"
"Ruby didn-... couldn't help us fight. She wasn't in the right headspace for it. And when we confronted her about it, she got... angry."
"Angry? Ruby?" Nora asked in genuine surprise, "I've seen her get fierce, protective of her friends, but that's a new one."
"Mm-hmm" Blake muttered, "She had been losing faith in herself. She didn't know what she was supposed to do. So when we turned to her for guidance, trying to get her to solve our problems yet again, she snapped. She lashed out in anger, asking 'why the screwup and failure had to be the one to figure everything out after failing so many people already'."
Nora looked like she was listening to a horror novel, but she stayed attentive. Blake needed this. She needed to let everything out. And most importantly, Nora needed to understand what her friends were going through. Jaune himself had said that she should ask the others about his actions rather than him, not trusting himself to give an unbiased view of what happened. He had said that he was ashamed of himself, and this story of the Paper Pleasers seemed like it was a good part of the reason. But now, hearing about this fight, she was certain there was more to it than just how he had treated them.
"How did Jaune respond to all of this?" She asked.
"When Ruby was letting it all out, she mentioned how Jaune's friends were all 'make-believe'." Blake said. Nora winced, but Blake quickly continued, "It sounds harsh but she was right. They weren't his friends, they were his prisoners. And when she tried to remind him of that, he blamed her for the fact that we were in the Ever After in the first place. That it was her plan that failed the people of Atlas, that destroyed Mantle, that lost us the relics... and that it was her fault that he was forced to end Penny's life."
Nora dropped her cup at the last remark, what little was left of her coffee spilling out onto the floor and seeping into the cracks of the patio tiles. First Ruby, and now Jaune. This supposedly magical wonderland... just what had it done to her best friends? To cause Ruby to lose faith in herself and her friends? To make Jaune say such awful things? Blake continued the story, eventually reaching the part where they found Ruby beaten to near-death in a nightmarish teahouse, just in time to watch her attempt to end her own existence. Nora felt like she was going to hurl, but she kept listening to the end. The tale continued through their meeting with the Blacksmith, their reunion with Ruby, and their return to Vacuo, Blake's voice continuing to shake more as she spoke.
"I know it seems like things worked out," Blake said, "And from a certain perspective one could argue 'the experience only ended up making us grow', but I can't help but feel like so much of this could have happened a better way. Without casting blame, and without neglecting someone that I-... That we love." She blew out a long breath and inhaled slowly again. The next time she spoke, her voice was no longer shaking, and she spoke with a calm, collected clarity. "I want to help her. And I want to do it right this time."
Nora placed her left arm around Blake's shoulder and took her right arm into her free hand.
"I have an idea for how you can." She said gently. "There's something I've been doing for my team. I think out of all your team members, that you could be the perfect person for it." Blake immediately met her gaze, eager to know what she had in mind.