Darkest Nights: a RWBY Story

Chapter 41: Familliar Faces

The waves broke slowly against the shore. Seagulls flew by overhead. And the hot sun shone down over the island.
Blake, Talia, and Yang sat in chairs around an outdoor cafe table, waiting for Jason to arrive.
Talia sighed, leaning back in her chair as Yang used a multi-tool to clean some sand from in between the plating on her robotic arm.
Looking down at her arm, Blake noticed for the first time how tan she had become since they had arrived on Menagerie.
After a few more minutes, Jason arrived, making his way towards them from across one of the rope bridges that lead to the center of town. When he arrived at the table, he sat down next Blake and sighed.
Blake instantly noticed that he looked both exhausted and a little shaken.
Talia noticed as well.
"So."
She asked, sitting forward in her chair to look at her brother.
"How'd it go with the White Fang.
Jason smoothed the fur on one of his cat ears before he spoke.
"Better than expected if I'm honest with you. I managed to convince them to join the war effort and only one of them tried to kill me."
He smiled a little, the others picking up on the joke.
"You look... drained."
Blake said, placing a hand on Jason's shoulder.
"You okay?"
Jason nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just... I didn't really expect to ever be back in that camp, you know? A lot of memories there that I've tried hard to forget."
Then he smiled at Blake.
"Some good memories too though."
"They'll be a valuable defense for Menagerie."
Talia said, looking over the menu on the table.
Jason nodded.
"My thoughts exactly."
None of them were particularly hungry, so they ordered a small plate of assorted sandwiches for the table, along with cups of tea.
Jason glanced at Yang, who was still getting sand out of her robotic arm.
"How'd that happen?"
He said, indicating the sand.
Yang smiled a little.
"Fell on the beach during my run this morning. You'd think that with all the great tech on this thing they would have thought to make it sand-proof. Oh well."
Their food and drink arrived.
As the four ate, Jason went into greater detail about his conversation with Zarah, as well as the rest of the White Fang camp.
After only a few minutes however, they were interrupted by a voice calling their names.
"Blake? Yang?"
Blake's cat ears perked up. She'd recognize that voice anywhere. Sure enough, she turned around to see Neon Katt dashed towards them along the beach, coming to a halt when she approached the railing of the cafe.
She was dressed differently then when they had seen her back in Atlas, wearing light armor with her hair back in its original look.
Neon beamed at the group.
"Hey."
Yang's eyes widened slightly.
"Neon? What are you doing here?"
In response, the ginger-haired cat faunus gestured at the short dark blue cape with red trim that was pinned over the right shoulder of her outfit– the sign of Hunters of Huntresses who has volunteered to join the Royal Army.
Blake smiled at her as she leaned against the railing, her tail wrapping around it.
"So,"
Blake said.
"What made you decide to volunteer?"
Some of the happy look disappeared from Neon's face. When she spoke, her voice was unusually quiet.
"A few months back, after Adam's attack on Atlas, I had time to do some thinking. I'd spent so long trying to be perfect that I'd forgotten to be kind to those around me. I wasn't... a nice person. This is my way of trying to make amends."
Yang smiled.
"I'm glad to hear your making the right choice:"
Neon smiled back.
"Thanks, Yang."
The blonde nodded, then noticed the puncture marks on Neon's shoulder and grinned.
The ginger haired faunus blushed a little.
"So, I was stationed in Vacuo for a few months and... Blake, you remember Sun, right?"
Blake choked slightly on her tea.
She coughed a little as she looked at Neon.
"You... and Sun?"
Neon nodded, running her tail through her hands.
"I stayed with him when I was stationed in Vacuo. At first I thought he was kind of a dork, but he's actually a sweet guy. He helped me open up to people again when I was doubting myself. I'm actually heading back to Vacuo pretty soon, I'm only here for a few days."
She smiled and gave both Yang and Blake brief hugs.
"It's been great seeing you guys again!"
Neon said, smiling at the group.
"Anyway, gotta go. My lunch break is almost over."
She gave the group one last wave goodbye before running back town the beach in the direction she had come.
"So,"
Yang said after a moment.
"Looks like Sun finally got his cat faunus, huh?"
Blake chuckled.
"I guess he did."
The four finished their food and drink before heading back up towards the castle.