Chapter 2
It only took them a couple of minutes to get out of the cave, and Yang had to chuckle at the sight in front of her.
Ruby was face down on the ground, apparently hugging the sand, and Weiss was staring at her as she had suddenly grown three heads.
“Ruby, we were in there for all of a half an hour; you don’t need to hug the ground.” Weiss huffed. “And if you get any sand on me, I will personally throw you to the grim.”
“Awwww, come on, Weiss, let her have a dramatic moment,” Yang said, starting to stretch her arms. That’s when she remembers that she only had one on at the moment.
She turned to look at Blake. “Oh, hey Blake, can I have my arm back now?”
Blake hesitated for a moment. “I’m not sure that's a good idea…”
Yang’s brows furrowed in confusion. “Why not?”
Reaching behind her back, she pulled out Yang’s arm from where it was resting. “It’s still pretty damaged…”
Yang’s eyes widened at the sight. Pretty Damaged? That is an understatement.
The front panel on the forearm had become dislodged, exposing all the parts underneath it. A few of the wires have been cut, some parts were completely missing, her weapon was damaged, and to put a cherry on top, most of the fingers were broken.
“I’m sorry, Yang, but I don’t think that you can wear it until it gets repaired,” Blake said softly, not meeting Yang’s gaze.
Yang didn’t respond. She just stared at her damaged arm. She didn’t even notice when Ruby came up and put a hand on her shoulder.
“Hey, we’ll get the parts and repair it. You’ve done worse to Ember Celia, remember?”
But Ember Celia wasn’t needed for me to do practically anything. Yang thought somberly. I’m useless now.
She didn’t say that, though, instead said, “Yeah, you’re right, Ruby. I’ll be okay without it for a while.” Yang looked up at Ruby and put on one of her fake smiles.
If Ruby could tell she was faking it, she didn’t say anything about it.
“Okay, good!” Ruby smiled back at her. “Now, we should probably focus on finding the others, or some shelter, before night falls.”
“Good idea, but does anyone know what direction we came from?” Weiss asked, “It was all jumbled up for me in the caves.”
“Maybe We should follow the direction of the cave just on top of it?” Blake suggested, glancing back at the mentioned cave.
“That’s probably the best idea we’re going to have.” Ruby turned and walked around the cave entrance. “Let’s get moving then, Team!”
Weiss followed after her, stumbling slightly on the sand because of her heels.
Blake chuckled softly to herself and started following them, but paused when she saw that Yang wasn’t moving. She looked over her shoulder at her partner. “Yang?”
Yang couldn’t hear her, too caught up in her own ‘thoughts.’ They didn’t even ask me my opinion or whether I agreed with the plan. It was the best plan we have. They probably knew that I knew that. But they couldn’t know if I had any better ideas. They could have asked. Did they think I was just too dumb to come up with anything better? Did they just think I was too dumb to come up with anything else? They know I’m not dumb. They trust me. They-
Yang was broken out of her thoughts when she felt someone put a hand on her shoulder. “Yang. What’s going on?” A voice asked her.
She looked up and saw Blake staring at her, her eyes bright with worry. Yang hated seeing Blake like that.
“What do you mean? Nothing is going on.” Yang replied, giving her a smile that she hoped was convincing.
It didn’t look like it was if the way Blake’s brows furrowed at the sight of it. “Are you sure? I called out to you a few times, and you didn’t answer, and you were just standing there.”
Yang flinched inwardly, but kept her smile outwardly. She shrugged off Blake’s hand. “I’m sure. I just got caught up in my thoughts. Sorry for worrying you over nothing.”
Blake still didn’t look convinced. “You know you can talk to me, right? About anything.”
There it was, Yang had been hearing that her whole life. Too bad, they rarely mean it. She clenched her fist as subtly as she could. “I know, but seriously, I’m fine.”
Blake nodded slightly, but the worry never left her face. “Okay. Let's catch up with the others then.” She turned around and slowly walked after Weiss and Ruby, who had stopped a little bit away from them.
Yang took a deep breath, then followed her.
They walked in silence for a long while, looking out for any sign of their friends or of any wandering Grimm.
Yang made a point not to think about anything, focusing on her breathing instead.
She pretended not to notice the looks that Blake was sending her way. Why can’t she see that I’m fine?
Ruby suddenly stopped ahead of them. “Guys, I think we have company!” She shouted back, pulling out Crescent Rose.
Yang looked ahead of them and saw four Dromedon galloping their way.
Weiss took out Myrtenaster, spinning the dust chamber to make sure it wasn’t jammed.
Blake unsheathed Gambol Shroud, subtly angling herself to be in front of Yang.
Yang went to get into her battle stance, only to freeze when she remembered that she didn’t have her robotic arm.
She gave Ruby a wide-eyed look when she turned around to check on them.
Ruby gave her a sympathetic one back. “Yang, maybe you should sit this one out. We got this.”
She didn’t sound condescending, but for some reason, Yang felt like she was. But Yang didn’t say anything. She only nodded in reply. She backed away from the group, staring down at the ground as she did.
“You’d only get in the way anyway.” Yang snapped her head up at the sound of Weiss’s voice, her eyes wide in shock.
“What did you say, Weiss?” She asked, not even trying to hide the surprise in her voice.
Weiss gave her a confused look. “I… Didn’t say anything?”
Yang shook her head, stepping back more. “Sorry, I must be hearing things. Maybe I’m more tired than I thought.”
Blake and Ruby gave each other concerned looks. But they didn’t get to say anything before the Dromedon arrived.
While the rest of her team was locked in combat, she looked around to see if anyone else was around, or anything to explain what she had heard.
She knows what she heard. She knows it.
But then why did nobody else hear it?
What was going on?