"Blake.."
"What?"
"So...what was up with that?"
"He tried to come after me."
Yang chuckled. "So you break his leg Nora Junior?"
"It got cracked at best. If I wanted to break his legs I would have. I did what I needed to in the short amount of time I had to react."
"Are you sure...it wasn't because of what they were saying?"
"What?"
"I'm not judging or anything. I'd be mad too, he probably deserved it."
"It was because he tried to attack me. Not because of some offensive words. I dealt with that my whole life, you'd think I'd be used to it by now."
"Whatever floats your boat, Blake. I'll give you the same benefit you gave me back at Beacon. I believe ya."
Yang sprawled herself out on the comfy bed provided by the inn.
"Are you really okay though? You can tell me if you aren't." She prompted, resting her chin in her hands as she stared up at the raven-haired beauty.
Blake sat on the other end of the bed, grazing her nimble fingers across the smooth metal of Gambol Shroud in silence for a moment.
She looked at Yang with blank eyes.
"Is it...is it wrong that I don't feel as bad as I should?"
"They were being jerks and like you said, he came at you. Honestly if he hit you and I made it in time he'd have more than an injured leg." Yang admitted.
The blonde sat up and crawled closer to her girlfriend.
"Let's not dwell on that, we're helping this kid out..doing a good deed ya know? Let's focus on that."
Blake stared at her for a moment and sighed. "That conversation won't necessarily make me feel better..."
She turned her gaze back on her sword and Yang watched as she continued on with her anxious tendencies.
Yang knew her well enough to know how she keeps busy and fiddles with things when there's a lot on her mind.
Yang looked into her busy amber eyes. "Blake, trust me I don't like splitting up that much either, especially with what happened but thats the plan."
"You sure we can't go together? What if theres faunas bandits and-"
"Yeah yeah, I know you're the faunas expert and all that but I don't need technicals to punch somebody."
"That careless attitude is what's worrying me. Those bandits? The ones who pledge allegiance to TWF, they're ruthless. Faunas have the advantage over humans, we're superior in a lot of aspects. The only reason you got those 2 bandits so easily is because they were caught off guard."
"You might be underestimating me just a little there."
"Just...don't get cocky."
She knew that better than anyone though. Jumping in at a problem with no plan is what cost her her arm in the first place.
"I'll be careful if you'll be careful."
She held her palm out, Blake grabbed it latching on tightly. Yang brought her hand close, kissing it before glancing back at Blake.
"I promise."
"Mhm." Blake hummed, not turned by her answer.
"I won't be reckless, really!"
Another unmoved hum was vocalized.
"I love youuu."
A small smile couldn't help but to form on Blake's face. "I know you do."
The blonde smiled brightly at her.
"-but telling me you love me doesn't make it any less dangerous. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure we'd be immortal."
Yang leaned her head against the headboard, raising an arm to put a finger to her lip as she pondered.
Blake could see the gears turning in her head before her attention was turned back to anxiously fidgeting with Yang's mechanical fingers. "I hope we find Gray's parents."
"Me too. Hopefully us splitting up will make it easier to cover more ground."
Blake sighed.
"I know it'll be awkward but since there's only 5 of us the group was bound to split up unevenly. You and Sun are good fighters and you're both faunas...you're the stealthy one."
"Ilia's stealthy, couldn't she have gone with him?"
"Blake. Ilia has a whip, you have a gun-sword. Evenly balanced skill set and all that jazz...Plus we have to babysit Neptune."
"Who's Gray going with?"
"You and Sun. Easier to spot 4 people over 3. Not to mention one of the 3 is a ninja."
"Fine.."
Yang leaned over, gazing up at pools of gold. "Just make sure I stay your favorite blonde, kay?"
"Always."
_____
Sun scratched at the slow-grown blond hairs on his chin.
"This is way more awkward then I thought it would be."
"What?"
Sun's eyes widened a bit at the unexpected voice.
"Huh?"
"You're staring."
He couldn't really blame himself. It was hard not to admire her beauty. Although, finding yourself mesmerized and getting caught wasn't that great. Now it's just weird.
The blonde blinked a few times before clearing his throat.
"...So Gray, why didn't you tell us your old man was a baron?" Sun asked as he attempted to change the subject.
"What's that?"
"Like a king, except less powerful." Blake answered, knowing Sun had no clue either.
"Oh!" The little boy smiled, eyes lighting up at the mention of the word king.
Blake wasn't about to burst his bubble. Barons had less land and money. They were noblemen, but mainly a lord over a couple acres of land. Not much.
"So he's not that loaded? Great."
"I hope you aren't doing this just for the money."
He waved her off. "Pft. Nahhh."
Blake glanced at him with indifferent eyes.
Sun raised an eyebrow, confused at her willingness to believe he was that materialistic.
"Wow, Blake. I was just kidding."
The raven-haired girl responded with a nod and shrugged. "Who knows these days."
"Yang literally took all kinds of jobs back home solely for the money but you're judging me?" Sun replied.
"I'll admit that she can be a daredevil sometimes but a majority of her money earned is given to Ruby. Don't play that card."
"You can't tell me the adrenaline junkie doesn't find the jobs just fun to do."
"She only takes the jobs she needs to. The only reason she doesn't, take extremely dangerous ones by herself is because of me. Yang
isn't just fueled by adrenaline and money."
"Yeah, well whatever makes you happy, Blake."
"She does."
"At least someone is."
"Oh don't pull that guilt trip with me. You chose to do what you did. You had a chance."
"Please. That chance was gone as soon as you met her."
"Y-"
"You're telling me if it was the other way around you think you'd end up with me?"
Sun scoffed before continuing.
"Hah, no. The way you are with each other? In any other alternate universe I'm sure I'd always lose."
Being the nice person she is, she wasn't about to kick a dog-or monkey- while it's down.
She was aware the relationship she had with them both were two totally different things. Rubbing it in his face wasn't gonna do anything.
Blake felt confident about what she had with Yang and Sun was smart enough to see that. To see that their bond was stronger, better even. If anything, Adam and Sun showed her how she shouldn't be treated.
Between Blake having bad experiences from train-wreck relationships and Yang having little-to-no experience in long term or serious relationships, they were both two broken puzzle pieces that found a way to fit.
It was hard not to be envious.
Gray's eyes darted back and forth between the two faunas.
He ran up to them to catch up. As he matched their pace, he pulled on Sun's shirt catching his attention.
"You should hug. When me and my sister fought, mamá always had us hug."
Sun chuckled before swopping him up, putting him on his shoulders. The blonde grabbed his foot to keep him in place as Gray patted the top of his golden mane.
Sun smiled to himself while Gray enjoyed the luxury of being tall for once.
Sky-blue eyes found themselves back on Blake.
There was a time way back when, that he hoped one day in the future they'd have a family. An energetic l boy like Gray or a beautiful little girl.
Most guys weren't even thinking about that but Blake was an exception with a lot of things. She was something that he knew he'd never get out of anyone else. Neptune used to call him dumb for saying love first and saying it so early.
He did though. At least he think he did. He was sure that she was wife material for sure, but that stage of the relationship never came due to Sun's decisions. The main one being him saying he only had eyes for a certain dark haired amber-eyed girl, only to disregard his own statement with infidelity.
He hated himself for it. It showed him that he had a problem and he slowed down the drinking soon after. Drunk or not, Blake didn't take it as an excuse. Apart of her does though. The same part that sees Yang drink, hoping that she won't make the same mistake.
But Qrow has been struggling with alcoholism himself and Yang and Ruby saw him spiral downwards. Yang was far from an alcoholic and wasn't about to do that to Ruby, like their Uncle or to Blake, like Sun.
Yang knew better and if she didn't, she was striving to make it so for Blake. Not changing herself but improving, which was a big difference between Sun and Yang.
Sun sighed before smiling. "Heh. Yeah..that won't work here buddy."
"Why?"
"It just won't. We're far from brother and sister."
That thought made him shudder. "Eck."
Gray frowned and rested his small hands on Sun's head. "I miss my family."
Blake titled her head to look at his crestfallen face. She smiled sympathetically. "We'll find them."
Sun immediately coughed. Ahem. He gave her a look at the amount of confidence that he just heard with that statement.
As a huntsman or huntress you get certain jobs. Not all of them end with a fairytale ending, there's no way to predict what could come your way. You never guess, estimate or hypothesize anything. You see how it plays out at the end and have to live with how things end knowing you tried your best.
Sun felt for the kid, he really did but they can only do so much. Getting his hopes up might not end well. They might not even find his parents or they might, just not alive.
You never tell someone something like that unless you know for sure.
The longer Blake spent with Gray, the more rational huntress Blake gets trumped by empathetic Blake.
"It's like she threw the huntsman codebook out the window..." Sun thought to himself.
Blake looked at him nonchalantly, not caring to hear his opinion on the matter.
She twiddled her index finger with her thumb anxiously. She was so used to Yang's calming touch that it felt weird not having her near, grasping her hand. Blake knew they could handle themselves, hell, Yang was a one-woman army. Her worries lied with the fact that the bandit camp they were going in could have two dead civilians in it.
She hoped Gray's parents would be found still breathing.
It also didn't help that there are bandit groups out there that would quickly try to go after Yang to get back at Raven, a rival bandit leader. With allied bandits the opposite happens, seeing as Raven white-listed her daughter and they don't dare touch her.
A bandit's daughter and an ex White Fang specialist were 2 big walking targets. They might even try to kill Gray's parents as soon as they find out they're looking for them.
"I can't let that happen.."
The vibration of her pocket broke Blake out of her thoughts.
She reached into her pocket, whipping out her scroll, quickly unlocking it to read a newly-received text.
-We made it. Ilia's casing the place and Nep's covering us from a tree with his rifle. Yea...wish us luck kitten.
-You sure you don't need us?
-And put Gray in danger? No. If we find his parents we'll keep em safe. Just do your job safely and we should be good.
-alright...
Blake sighed and shut her eyes for a moment. As she opened them, she mentally prepared herself to get her job done and not anticipate things.
The power-grid. It being disabled would shroud the camp in complete darkness. It's a pro for faunas and a con for humans. It was their best bet at stealth but Yang and Neptune would be completely blind.
Blake closed one eye, aiming her iron sights onto the large antenna unnaturally built into the ground. She steadied herself as she pushed the trigger.
"I hope this isn't a bad idea, Yang."
Sparks exploded from the towering antenna as the bullet ripping through its inner mechanisms. The three of them covered their face from the raining sparks as they waited for the inevitable effect of shooting at something electrical.
It breaks.
Blake's ears flinched as they picked up the sound of nearby power shutting off, followed by the area getting darker and darker at a random pace.
It was dangerously stupid...and a crime, but if it makes Yang's job easier Blake was happy to do it 100 more times.
"I guess it's up to Yang now, huh?" Sun rhetorically asked.
This was a ballsy plan, Yang might only be a temp leader but she wasn't stupid. Brave and determined, but far from idiotic.
These missions showed more and more that she could be brawn and brain.
"Yay!" Gray excitedly exclaimed.
"You sure this isn't actually really stupid? She'd be blinding herself."
"She knows that and I trust her."
"But-"
"Look, she told me that the only ones who need to see are Gray's parents, me, and Ilia." Blake interrupted.
She looked at Sun as he thought over her words.
"Because you, Ilia and his parents are faunas...and the anti-faunas bandits in this area aren't..."
"Right."
Sun shook his head before sighing exasperatedly.
"Still a crazy plan but....let's go get 'em."
The blonde bent down to Gray's height, high-fiveing him, before leveling a glance at determined amber eyes.