RWBY: The Stepmother

Chapter 11: Welcome Home

"Ghira! Get over here, quickly!" Hearing the urgency in Kali's voice, Ghira ran into the living room and saw his wife holding a scroll up to her ear. Upon seeing the worried look on her face, he began feeling a little bit anxious himself. "Kali? What is it? Who are you talking to?," he asked. "It's Blake," Kali answered. "Our little kitten is on the scroll right now."

Ghira's anxiety spiked up. Ever since she left to join the White Fang, Blake had never even sent them a letter, let alone called them through her scroll, which meant it had to be pretty serious. The worried look on Kali's face did absolutely nothing to alleviate his fears. "Well, what is Blake saying?," he asked. "I-I don't know," said Kali. "I've been trying to get a response out of her, but... she won't stop crying." Ghira immediately took the scroll from Kali and quickly put it on loudspeaker. The sound of his daughter sobbing suddenly filled the room.

"Blake! Blake, what's going on? Are you alright?," he asked worriedly. Blake momentarily stopped crying and sniffled. "D-d-daddy?," she whimpered. Ghira felt like an invisible hand was squeezing his heart. It had been such a long time since Blake called him that.

"Yes, it's me. Daddy's here," said Ghira, trying to sound soothing. "What's going on, my little kitten?," asked Kali. "Why are you calling us? Did something happen?" "M-mommy?," Blake stuttered. "I-I... I'm so sorry, mom. I'm sorry, dad. I'm sorry for leaving you guys. I'm sorry that I kept ignoring your calls a-and never replying back to let you know I'm okay a-a-and–"

"Oh, sweetie, sweetie, sweetie!," Kali cried, her cat ears lowering. "Please, you don't have to apologize to us right now! Just tell us what happened! We want to help you!" Blake was still on the verge of tears, but she was able to stay coherent. "S-something... something terrible happened tonight," she whispered. "The White Fang... Sienna... A-Adam..."

"Sienna and Adam? What happened to them? Did one of them hurt you?!," growled Ghira, feeling his protective fatherly instincts taking over. If it turned out that Adam harmed a single hair on his little girl's head, there was nowhere on Remnant that the bull faunus wouldn't be able to hide from him! "N-no," said Blake. "Sienna and Adam... they're dead."

Ghira and Kali glanced at each other with wide eyes, shocked by the news. "Are... are you sure, Blake?," asked Kali, unable to believe it at first. "...Yeah. I'm sure," Blake murmured, her voice meek and quiet. "We were all on a mission... just me, Adam, Sienna, and a bunch of other guys... we were supposed to... kidnap Winter Schnee and hold her for ransom... a-and we succeeded... but then, this... scary woman arrived... s-she wanted to talk to Sienna, so they went into a room together... then there was an alarm... everyone was running and yelling... it was just chaos... I-I got scared and hid behind some boxes... a-and I saw..."

There was silence on the other end of the scroll. "Blake? Blake, are you there?," asked Ghira, feeling the anxiety creep back. "...I saw the woman," Blake whimpered. "Only, she wasn't a woman anymore. She was a... I don't even know what she was. I-I only remember seeing... something big. And black. It filled up the entire hallway and crawled on all fours. Everyone saw this thing... and they screamed. These hardened soldiers and warriors... they s-screamed and cried like... like a bunch of little babies. T-they tried shooting at it... but it did nothing. The thing just... ripped and tore through them all. Nobody was spared. I know I should've come out and fought with them... but I was so scared, mom and dad. I-I couldn't even move."

"Dear Oum," Kali whispered, covering her mouth in horror. Ghira absentmindedly wrapped his arm around Kali's waist, his eyes still glued to the scroll. "After that, it all became quiet," Blake continued. "I was pretty sure the thing was gone... but I didn't want to come out yet. I stayed hidden. Then, I saw... the woman. She looked... normal again. She was walking down the hall with Winter Schnee, and they were holding hands. I couldn't really see Winter's face from where I was hiding, but... I think she looked just as scared as I was..."

Ghira and Kali were speechless after listening to her story. They had no idea what to say. What could they say? "After they left, I went looking for Sienna and Adam. I came across their bodies. Sienna had her throat ripped out, and Adam... he was... h-h-he was..."

"Blake," Ghira spoke, interrupting her. "You don't have to continue. You can stop if you want." "...Okay. Sorry," sighed Blake, sniffling. "Anyway, I'm calling you now because... I want to go back home. I want to go back to Menagerie. I want to stay there... with you guys... I'm done with the White Fang. I'm done with all of this... this... bullshit! I just want to go home, where it's safe! I... I-I just want to go home. Mom, dad... is it okay if I come back home?"

"Of course you can," said Kali, wiping fresh tears from her face. "And we'll be there to welcome you back with open arms, my little kitten." Blake broke down crying again. "T-t-thank you! Thank you...," she sobbed. "Welcome home, Blake," Ghira whispered shakily.

"Welcome home, Winter," said Mother, leading Winter to the front steps of the manor while keeping an iron grip on the girl's arm. "It's good to have you back, dear."

"Yes...," Winter murmured, trying not to scream. "It's good to be back..."