14

Nose deep in her book, Blake easily traversed the halls as students flitted by. Shifting body after body with the grace of a ballerina.

On her way, a sweet aroma tantalized her senses followed by a sharp ding. Blake met an impasse, continue reading her book and ignore the scent, or locate the origin of such a delightful fragrance and put her reading on hold.

To her surprise, her legs chose the latter and sought after the scent. 'The plot's pretty straightforward, though.'

Literature halted temporarily, Blake obeyed the call of the odor, body shifting students all the while. She'd come to stop in front a pair of double doors, the smell stronger now. This was it. Slowly, she eased open a door, and the inside of the room happened to be a culinary class of sorts, and over by the oven was Pyrrha who'd just pulled a freshly baked batch of cookies out.

'Pyrrha can bake?' Lingering long enough, Blake fully entered the room, announcing her arrival. "I didn't know you were a baker."

Pyrrha set the treats down on the cooling rack, unfazed by Blake's sudden appearance. "I'm not, not usually, but I dabble here and there."

Blake strode over to join her neighbor, eyeing the small pieces of clothes set out on the metal table. "Would you care for one?"

"Sure." Blake kindly accepted the treat, raising it to her mouth, but not before inhaling that wonderful scent. She bit into the small sweet cake, an array of flavourful explosions attacking her taste buds. Hidden ears fluttered beneath their cover, a sign of delight in this case. "This is wonderful, Pyrrha." She praised the baker, finishing the cookie.

"Thank you, I just hope my team shares the same sentiment as you." Oh, Pyrrha, as unpretentious as ever.

"They will." Blake was mindful of the fourth piece of cloth laid out on the table, somewhat shrouded by another baking sheet. "These are for your teammates, correct?"

"Yes."

"Whose is the fourth candidate, then?"

As a former member of the Fang, Blake held a rank of high importance. Total awareness of her surroundings was one reason she'd been such a valued member. While Faunus had extraordinarily keen senses, cat Faunus' own was even greater. Also, trying to hide a bright red object in broad daylight wasn't that hard to detect.

"Nothing gets past you, does it." Pyrrha didn't feel embarrassed at being caught so easily. Blake remained the most observant person she had the pleasure of befriending, followed closely by Ren, and Weiss. "They're for Ruby. I hope you don't mind."

"I see no harm done by a friend giving her cookies, most of Beacon probably knows what a cookie fanatic she is." Blake's expression shifted to one of suspicion. "That's to say… you are giving them to her as only a friend, are you?"

"You don't let anything slip, do you?"

"No," Blake said bluntly. "Well?"

"I'm going to be honest, Blake, no, I do not plan to give them to Ruby as only a friend." A bold answer on her part, because Pyrrha was most certain Blake would love nothing more than to jump her.

Using a decent amount of willpower, Blake lowered her hackles. "It's safe to say, then, you're giving these to her as a crush of sorts."

"Yes." The atmosphere became more heated, and not because of the oven, that much was for sure.

Two dominating presences such as Blake's and Pyrrha's created a tension-filled area. Pyrrha's tall, muscular form casting a shadow around Blake's smaller body. If Pyrrha were born a Faunus, a tiger would be the best creature to represent that power. Blake didn't falter in her stance, however. Even though she lacked the height, and muscle mass of her current opposition, that didn't necessarily mean she was weak. Blake's build was one meant for stealth and agility, much like a panther.

A panther versus a tiger.

Who'd win?

That'd be a battle left to the imagination as Blake, once again, reigned herself in. "Unbelievable, we're acting like two Boarbatusk butting heads."

Pyrrha's form deflated as she let out a puff of air. "Agreed. You have my deepest apologies, that was unlike me."

"The sentiment is shared." Blake loosened her posture, thumbing the hardcover of her book when Pyrrha's previous words came back to mind. "Hold on, earlier, after I asked who the fourth recipient was, and you told me it was Ruby, you followed on saying, 'I hope you don't mind.' Why is that?" Posture still lax, amber eyes watched Pyrrha hard in thought, until realization settled in. "You know…"

"That you and Ruby are together, yes, I know." Pyrrha finished what Blake seemed to be having difficulty admitting.

"But, how? We've not done anything to warrant suspicion." Blake didn't want to give the impression that she was ashamed to let people know that she'd found her ladylove in Ruby, Oum knows shame was the furthest thing she felt while together with Ruby. Blake could only describe the feeling she got when near Ruby as joy in its purest forms. Slight touches would leave her heart pounding, be it a brush of their fingertips, or her Rose's award winning smile aimed at her.

Oum knows Blake would love nothing more to be open about their relationship, but she was also afraid of the backlash of such a reveal. The past had been one not too kind to Blake. In some eyes, a Faunus and a human coupling could be taken as a sign of betrayal to either race, if not both. Many humans still had heated emotions towards the Faunus, and vice versa.

Them being two girls together in a romantic relationship also acted as a noose they'd be tying around their necks. Some had no problems with same sex relations, though some saw it as an abomination and gazed upon those who shared such feelings in disgust.

Blake could handle the ridicule, and the scorned looks and the vile atrocities spewed by jeering tongues, years of constant verbal and silent abuse hardening her skin. Certain words might pierce the sturdy armour she built as a shroud to veil her emotions, but she bounced back soon enough.

Could the same be said for Ruby?

Blake refused to venture into those uncharted waters. She'd wait, no matter how long, she'd wait until she thought it time to tell people.

All for the sake of shielding her Rose.

"True, you haven't done anything out of the ordinary." Deft fingers that commanded Miló in harmony with its longtime companion Akoùo̱ with a tight grip, and experienced motions, gently cared for the soft baked goods as Pyrrha prepared them for her teammates. "To the public, you'd appear as a pair of close friends," soft emeralds glanced sideways at Blake, "but, to a watchful eye, you're much more. Subtle touches that linger longer than normal, smiles that reveal more, and the fact you laugh more when you're near Ruby." 'Not to mention, Ruby brought it up during our trip.' Tying a simple bow on the last of the treats, Ruby's parcel to be exact, Pyrrha dusted her hands of remaining flour traces and flashed Blake with a warm smile. "She really puts you out of your element, doesn't she."

"You don't know the half of it." Blake sighed, dare Pyrrha say, dreamily. Then, Blake's face went blank for a moment before a seriousness glazed over her eyes. "Pyrrha, can I ask you a favour?"

"Anything for a friend."

Blake placed her book on the counter, not caring if floured dirtied its pages. "Should something happen to me in the long run in my life as a huntress," amber eyes roved the cover of her book, fingers running over the raised words, "I want you to be the one to take care of Ruby in my stead."

Pyrrha studied the red box in her hand, thoughts processing. Take care of Ruby, huh?

She thought back to their camping trip a few days ago, how she made a quiet vow similar to the question being asked. 'Life is truly a funny thing.'

Blake's attitude was relaxed at best as Pyrrha side-eyed her. She gave nothing away, not even a tiny hint as to what she was thinking as she awaited a response.

"Asking such a thing of me, you must have great faith in my ability." Caring hands put the gift box on the counter as Pyrrha spoke after a time.

"I do," accompanied by a firm nod.

"Then, it'd be my honour," graced with angelic humility.

After the encounter in the culinary class, Pyrrha and Blake sat with their teams in the library. It was a free period now, one of the professors had fallen ill that same morning, and there was no substitute to take his place, so the students migrated about the school. Their team leaders both agreed on sticking together and chose to occupy the library. Though, reading was the furthest thing they were doing.

"Prepare your forces because they're going to be destroyed!" Ruby declared.

"Bring it on!" Yang screamed as she accepted the challenge.

"I deploy, the Atlesian Air Fleet!" Yang gasped in horror while her sister dearest smiled smugly. "Looks like I get to fly right over your Ursai, and attack your walls directly!" Ruby imitated an airship shooting its guns at the wall.

Yang's look of horror soon vanished as she smirked, and slowly raised her hand, revealing a card.

"Pretty sneaky, sis, but you activated my trap card! Giant Nevermore!" She slammed her fist on the table, disrupting the game pieces. "If I roll a seven or higher, Fatal Feathers will slice your fleet in two."

"But, if you roll a six or lower, the Nevermore will turn on your own forces!" Ruby counterargued. Yang wouldn't take a risk like that… would she?

"That's just a chance I'm willing to take." Yang tossed the dice, the dotted cubes rolling on the board. Both sisters eyed each other, eyes squinting and twitching with nerves.

Finally, the dice stopped.

"Ha!"

"Noooo, my fearless soldiers!"

Pyrrha watched as Yang's roar of victory was swallowed up by Ruby's cry of defeat. She giggled at the intensity with which the siblings played. She looked back to the blonde boy besides, rolling her eyes before snagging the comic book, and replacing it with an educational book. Simpering, she shook her head as Jaune sheepishly read.

Ruby rested her head on the table, hot tears of sorrow running down her face.

Having completely robbed Ruby of any hope of victory, Yang set her eyes on their snowy friend. "Well, Weiss, it's your turn."

"I have... absolutely no idea what I'm doing." Weiss stared at her cards. Ruby had convinced her this would be fun, shame on her for giving in so easily. Adjacent to her, Blake sat with her head propped, her deck face down. Her mind was off somewhere else, not in the slightest bit focused on the game.

"Look, it's easy." Their voices became dull buzzing in the ears of Ruby, forgoing her personal pity party to put her attention on someone else. Blake had yet to acknowledge her staring, the sable haired girl obviously elsewhere. Soon enough though, she blinked waking from her daze. Greeted by gunmetal silver that silently begged to know if she was okay, Blake offered a squeeze to Ruby's thigh under the table to melt any worry.

"And, that means?" Weiss asked, bringing their focus back to the game.

"You're just three moves from conquering Remnant." Tears started to flow again. That should've been her victory! She should've been the one conquering Remnant!

A flipped switched in Weiss after learning the power she held. "Yes! Fear the almighty power of my forces!" She cackled, shooting up from her seat, completely disregarding the library rules she so dutifully upheld. "Cower as they pillage your homes, and weep as they take your children from your very arms!"

"Trap card." A simple sentence.

"Huh?"

"Your armies have been destroyed." That brought utter devastation as Yang won again.

Weiss plopped down in her chair, tears flowing similarly to Ruby's. "I hate this game of emotions we play." A red blur instantly appeared in Weiss' lap, consoling the pale girl, or at least tried to.

"Stay strong, Weiss!" Ruby cried as she clung to her partner, burying her face in her neck. "We'll get through this together."

"Shut up, don't touch me!" Weiss returned the hug. Ruby was so light in her lap, like a feather.

"Well, Blake, it's your turn." Yang addressed her partner, allowing her sister and partner to wallow in their sorrows.

"Um, sorry, what am I doing?"

"You're playing as Vale, trying to conquer the kingdoms of Remnant."

"Right..." Blake held up her cards, hesitant to play.

"Hey! Can I play?" Jaune suddenly popped.

Blake welcomed the intervention. If there's one time the boy was actually needed, it was now. Board games could be played later, she had more pressing matters to attend to.

"Sorry, Jaune, we've already got four players." Ruby chirped.

"Besides, you need a certain level of tactical cunning to play this game which I seriously doubt you possess." Weiss sniffed.

"Uh, you attacked your own fleet two turns go." Weiss groaned, she didn't need a reminder of her blunder.

"Bring it on, Ice Queen! I'll have you know that I've been told that I'm a natural, born leader." Jaune would fight for his right to play.

"By who? Your mother?"

"And, Pyrrha!"

"Hello, again!"

"Come on, let me play for one turn!" Jaune begged.

"I'm not trusting you with the good citizens of Vacuo!"

"Why not!? You've trusted me with way worse and way more important stuff before! I mean you told us that Blake is secretly a fau-" Ruby cut him off with a sharp elbow to his side before he could finish his sentence.

"Ouch! What was that for!?"

"Oh, sorry, my hand slipped."

Blake looked ready to maim the boy as he nervously sent her an apologetic smile. "Right… that. Ladies, enjoy your battle." He bowed, realizing it was best if he didn't play after all.

"'Sup, losers?" Another blonde, that everyone came to know as Sun, announced his arrival. Accompanied by a blue haired boy today.

"Hey, Sun." Ruby hailed.

"Ruby, Yang, Blake," Sun addressed them all, saving Weiss for last, "Ice Queen."

"Why does everyone keep calling me that?!"

Ignoring the outburst, Sun continued. "I never got to introduce you to my old friend." Gesturing to his compatriot.

"Uh, aren't libraries for reading?" Blue hair asked.

"Thank you!" Ren shouted in the far corner, waking Nora from her sleep.

"Shut up, don't be a nerd."

Blue hair tutted, "intellectual, okay. Thank you."

"Whatever, I forgot to introduce you to him." Sun gestured towards the tall blue haired fellow.

"I'm Neptune Vasilias."

"So, Neptune, where are you from?" Weiss piped up.

"Haven," Neptune confidently sauntered over to Weiss, "and I don't believe I caught your name, Snow Angel."

"Um, I'm Weiss."

"Are you kidding me?!" Jaune moaned in the background.

Ruby made a stuttering sound with her nose, a code for Yang to look at her. "I don't like him." She tapped her cards on the desk, a little technique they'd learned from their uncle as kids.

"Kinda obnoxious, ain't he."

"Agreed."

"I didn't take you as a board game playing type." Sun bent over as he spoke to Blake.

"Right… I'm actually done playing for now. I'll see you guys later." Blake announced as she left the table, everyone staring at her retreating figure.

Sun shrugged in confusion to the others.

"Women." Nora helpfully supplied all eyes on her.

Yang barged into their dorm, White Rose trailing slowly behind as they laughed at the raging berserker. Served her right.

In the end, they had allowed Neptune a chance to play over Jaune, much to the blonde's sadness. Turns out the boy was actually good at the game.

"Ugh! We should have never let him play!" The brawler yelled.

"Ha, you're just mad the new guy beat you." Ruby mocked.

Yang threw her pillow at the little monster, missing her target as she ducked, hitting Weiss splat in her face. The heiress responded in kind by throwing the pillow back at the brute Ruby called a sister. Blake, yet again lost in her musings, broke from her reverie and looked at her bickering teammates. She quietly rose from her bunk, and was all clear to leave, up to the point where a commanding voice stopped her.

"Stop," Weiss ordered. Ruby and Yang quieted down in the backdrop, focus on their monochromatic teammates.

"Lately you've been quiet, anti-social, and moody."

"Uh, have you met Blake?"

"Which I get is your 'thing'." Weiss gestured, using air quotes to show emphasis. "But, you've been doing it more than usual, which quite frankly, is unacceptable. You made a promise to me, to all of us, that you'd tell us if anything is wrong. So, Blake Belladonna! What. Is. Wrong!?" Weiss demanded, somehow twirling in the air before balancing on a nearby chair as she pointed her finger at a shocked Blake.

The two sisters were left awestruck at the hasty display of gymnastics. Weiss dismounted, placing the chair by the desk before easing back into her original position.

Blake shook off her surprise and sighed. "I just… don't know how you all can stay so calm."

"What are you talking about?" Ruby asked.

"I'm talking about Torchwick, the White Fang, everything! Something big is going to happen, and no one is doing anything about it!"

"Ozpin told us not to worry. Between the police and the Huntsmen, I'm sure they can handle it."

"Well, I'm not! They don't know the White Fang like I do. No one does." Blake finished quietly.

"Are you forgetting that I used to be a part of them?" Ruby softly reminded her.

Blake was about to say something but stopped herself when she realized Ruby was right. "Of all people, why aren't you worried as I am?"

"Well… worrying about something slows you down when you need to be at your best. So, I don't really see a reason to worry so much about something when I might burden someone because of it." She took a few steps towards her girlfriend. "Since you're so worried, why don't we go take them down?" An absurd suggestion that only Ruby could effortlessly put out there.

"Ruby, we're only students! We're not ready to take something like this!"

"All in favour of becoming the youngest huntresses to single-handedly take down a corrupt

organization conspiring against the Kingdom of Vale, say 'aye'!" Ruby openly ignored Weiss' cry.

"Yes!" Leave it to Yang to be readily aboard the hype train. "I love it when you're feisty."

Weiss sighed before she spoke up. "Fine, who knows, it could be fun."

"None of you said 'aye'..." Spoilsports, the lot of 'em!

"All right, then. We're all in this together." Blake should've known her teammates would've backed her up on this. The girls were probably the closest thing she had to family.

"Let's hatch a plan!"

"Yeah!"

"Oh, no! I forgot my board game in the library!"

"We're doomed." Weiss moaned.

The redhead speedster zipped out of the room. "I'll be right back!" Her precious board game needed its Mama!

Before she could even get anywhere, she collided with something solid. Scratch that. Someone.

"Oh, sorry." Ugh, clumsy! "A-Are you okay?" Ruby apologized.

"I'm fine, just watch where you're going." The girl, as she'd come to notice, had mint green hair, her complexion tan like milk chocolate, and her eyes scarlet red. A boy stood beside her, gray hair and dark eyes, his mouth downturned in what looked like a frown. They both wore the same uniform, but not Beacon's own.

"Ha ha, right, sorry." Ruby accepted the girl's hand, pulling herself up with some assistance. "Um, I'm Ruby, are you new?"

"Visiting from Haven, actually." A husky voice said as the other two moved aside. Another girl appeared. Long raven hair that faded to ash gray laid on one side of her shoulder. Sharp eyes that seemed to be amber like Blake's, but upon closer speculation, they were a notch darker, like dying embers of a campfire. She, too, wore the same uniform.

"Oh, I remember you! You're that pretty lady I helped before!"

"Hello, again." Cinder chuckled.

"I didn't know you were attending Beacon too," she rubbed her head, "but, what're you doing here? Exchange students have their own dorms."

"I guess, we just got turned around." The boy with silver hair said as both he and the tanned girl smoothly brushed by her.

"Don't worry, it happens all the time. Um, your building is just east of here." She spoke only to the lady she'd met already now.

"Thanks," Cinder rounded the girl, warm hands pressing down on her shoulders. Ruby felt that strange bubbling in her stomach like last time rising up again. This woman's presence was unnerving in so many ways. "My name's Cinder, by the way." She whispered, her breath tickling the hairs on Ruby's neck.

"T-That's a pretty name."

"I do hope we'll be seeing more of each other." Cinder cooed before strutting after her acquaintances. A smile graced her lips as she felt the girl's gaze following each sway of her hips. She'd be her little playtoy when all was said and done.