En Garde! A RWBY White Rose Fanfiction

Chapter 62: Unexpected Arrival

AN: This time, I don't have an excuse as to why I haven't posted in so long, but the culprit is a certain Zelda game that I got my hands on last month. Sorry for procrastinating so long! Hopefully I'll put myself back on schedule, but I can't promise anything. Those of you who have been around a while know that about me by now XD So if you really want the next chapter and I haven't been updating, give me a nudge! Anywho, I'll let you read now. (I meant to post last Thursday but apparently I forgot, oops.) Enjoy!

Qrow loosened up and returned his pistol to its holster. He never even had to use it; Adam had had quite a scare merely from his appearance at the scene.

"You're lucky I showed up when I did, sweetheart," he addressed Blake. "Even luckier that I happened to be nearby."

The Faunus' cat ears flattened. "It's nice to see you as well, Mr. Branwen."

"The hell are you doing singlehandedly taking on a member of the White Fang?" He turned to face her. "Or is there something I should know?"

"You're asking me?!" Blake exclaimed. "What's the White Fang to you?! You're human!"

Qrow laughed. "First of all, you can't judge a book by its cover. You, my friend, should know that better than most."

Blake's eyes trailed to the ground.

"Second, you seem to be underestimating the capabilities of an old man. Your kin in the White Fang have caused enough trouble to be considered a rebellion, and the world's leaders aren't about to sit by and let that happen."

"I know!" Blake hissed. "That's why I left!" She did a double-take, not meaning to have said that out loud.

The man in the gray suit paused a moment. "And it's a good thing you did, Blake. From what I learned about you, you're too good for those thugs."

"It started when Adam took power," the Faunus admitted. "He has a more... forceful approach on things. To him, peaceful protests weren't enough."

"I can see that." Qrow motioned to his van. "If I'm not mistaken, don't you have a job to do?"

She knew exactly what he meant. "How do you...?"

Qrow smirked. "Like I said, I have my ways. So, you coming or not?"

"Hold on a moment," she responded. "I have an important call to make."

•••

Yang hadn't stopped ranting about how Blake would regret holding out on contacting her for the last ten minutes straight. Amusing as it was to watch, it scared Ruby to see her easygoing sister act so serious.

"I hate to cut you off," Ruby finally spoke up, "but there's nothing we can do about it right now. And isn't Uncle Qrow with her? She'll be fine!"

Yang's brows furrowed even more. "That's not what I'm worried about, Rubes. If something like this happens again, I don't want her to be on her own again. It sounded like she was lucky that Qrow showed up in time, or at all."

"We don't even know what happened," Weiss mumbled. "I, for one, am not jumping to conclusions until I hear the full story."

Ruby smiled. Weiss had matured so much in the short time they knew each other, though she couldn't tell why.

"More importantly," the heiress continued, "did they not give you the name of whomever they're sending to us for backup? Sending a stranger doesn't sound like a good idea at all."

Yang huffed and crossed her arms. "Don't know, don't care. So long as they stay out of my way."

"At least you answered my question," Weiss sighed. Before the next few seconds of silence could turn into a moment, she remembered something. "Ruby, the match! How did it go?"

The sisters glanced at each other, sharing expressions of reluctance. Yang shrugged, and Ruby turned back to Weiss. She deserved to know.

"It was... a draw," she began.

"There are no draws in fencing!" Weiss exclaimed. "Tell me exactly what happened."

"Well..."

•••

By the end of Ruby's short recount, the injured girl's countenance was downcast. "You shouldn't have left," she said. "You could have finished it!"

Ruby shook her head. "The match was nowhere near as important as you!"

Weiss' exposed eye welled up with tears. "But we worked so hard to make it there..."

"The only reason you were included in that was because I wanted an excuse to see you outside of school," Ruby admitted. "Don't feel bad, really."

"I still don't think-- wait, really?" The heiress' frown turned into a conflicted smirk. "You sly little fox!"

The brunette looked away and mumbled, "Would you have agreed to anything else?"

"I-..." Weiss thought about it for a moment. "No, probably not. At first, you were only my excuse to be fencing again."

"Then we're both guilty," Ruby deduced. "Now c'mon, lighten up!" She leaned over and gave her girlfriend a quick peck on the cheek. "Things could be worse, right?"

"Not when you're constantly oozing with optimism," Weiss teased, sticking out her tongue in mock disgust.

"That's what I'm here for, Ice Queen."

At that moment, they heard a firm rapping on the door. Yang stood up and went to greet their guest, but nobody expected to see the young woman on the other side.

"I'm relieved to see that Qrow's directions were correct," the new arrival said with a small smile, stepping through the doorway. Weiss immediately shot up and scrambled off the cot.

"Winter!"

Weiss didn't stop until she found herself in her older sister's comforting embrace. Seven years' worth of grief flooded her eyes at once, and nothing could have stopped the tears from falling.

"It's nice to see you too, Weiss," Winter greeted her fondly.

"I thought I'd never see you again," the sobbing heiress managed to choke out.

"Honestly, you were lucky." Winter looked up and met eyes with Ruby. "You found yourself in the right company. But I wish so badly that I had been able to see you sooner."

"This... isn't a dream, right?" Weiss stared up at her sister.

Winter responded by pinching her arm.

Weiss yelped and began to laugh. "Ow! Okay, it's not."

By this time, Yang had scooted over to stand beside her own sister. "They're definitely related," she whispered in Ruby's ear. The little brunette giggled.

Winter continued holding Weiss in her arms. "It's a wonder the place hasn't burned down with you in it, Xiao Long," she teased lightly.

"Oh, yeah? Well, I'm surprised you haven't turned anyone to stone yet!" the feisty blonde retorted.

Ruby groaned. Not again.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Weiss butted in.

Ruby and Yang exchanged guilty looks. They had a lot to explain.