There was a few moments of silence as everyone stared at Ilia. There were mixed emotions within a lot of them.
Guilt.
Sadness.
Anger.
Vengeance.
Confusion.
Empathy.
Yang wanted nothing more than to get her hands on Emerald. She may not have known Ilia as well as Blake, but the simple fact of how sad Blake was was enough for her to feel it as well.
Blake's pain was her pain.
It wasn't like Yang didn't care though, she knows Ilia had..has a good heart. She chose to leave the White Fang. She chose not to be the enemy anymore. She had remorse, that was known.
"I'll stand with you..if you'll have me."
Qrow entered the room, returning from speaking with the medic.
"I told them she got attacked by bandits. Most people may know you're huntsmen but they dont know her. Keep it that way."
"What'd the doctor say?" Blake quickly asked the question as soon as he closed his mouth.
He scratched his head. "She's alive."
"We know that-"
"Uh, Yang we need to talk about that thing real fast."
"What t-" Qrow pulled on her sleeve, lifting her out of her seat as she was pulled outside the door.
"How is she?"
"I don't know, you were the one who talked to the doctor."
"No, how is Blake?"
Realization towards his question dawned on her. If even Qrow could tell, then its getting worse. She wondered: why not just ask her yourself?
"Oh, uh, she's fine. On the outside. For the most part."
Qrow sighed.
"I figured, so I wanted to let you know first."
"You're kind of scaring me Qrow, just get to the point already please."
Another rough sigh escaped his lips. "Yang, don't let anyone figure out she's a faunas. As far as they're concerned she's a human with a cloaking semblance."
"What, why? Are they gonna kick her out on the street with injuries if she isn't human?"
"She needs the best care they have here. They'll do the best they can, her moonlighting as a human will just keep things simple. The last thing we need are racist medics that want to neglect the faunas."
Qrow brought a hand on her shoulder, a calming action, brought up upon predicting Yang's response.
"They give the best supplies to the rich, huntsmen and militant and political leaders. Those are for humans and sometimes..only humans. Since this place just sees working human men as more important. They're old fashioned and being a faunas will not help her situation."
"That is some BULLSHIT and you know it!"
"It is. It's a shitty standard but we can't do anything about it, Ilia needs this."
"No, we can find better health care."
"Atlesian supplies are the best healthcare. She has to stay here."
"But we can go find the 2nd best then. I want Blake to talk to somebody too. I know they have lots doctors that specialize in lots of shit. I'm not sending her to some faunas-hating douche. She's uncomfortable enough as it is."
"Ilia is in a coma, Yang. Medically induced, but she wont come out of this for a while. If Blake is right about what she saw, they knew about Ilia and her capabilities."
"..what?" Yang reached around behind her, searching for a chair.
She slammed herself in it, rubbing her face.
"If I got there sooner I could've prevented this....and Blake..she won't take it well either. I gotta go see her."
"If Blake has been going through things...I'd wait. You're huntresses; tough girls, tough warriors but you can't be strong forever."
"If I don't tell her as soon as I go in there, she's going to bite my head off."
"It's your choice, firecracker."
"Yeah.."
"You know as well as I do that your semblance is apart of you; apart of your aura. She had no protection, there was nothing you could have done. You didn't even know anything happened."
Crimson eyes searched the eyes of his niece as she made no more eye contact and looked at the floor instead. He had hoped to take some of the weight off of her shoulders but the lackluster flicker in her eye showed it was all for naught.
The blonde nodded and sauntered back into the quiet, dull room. She wondered whether telling Blake was a good idea at the moment.
How long does it take for someone to wake up before you notice something's wrong?
Probably not long...
She looked at Blake as she stared at her scroll, ears flat against her head.
"Sun wants to know what room we're in."
Yang scoffed.
"Sun can go suck a di-"
"They didn't do anything wrong."
Yang sat down in the chair she pulled up beside Blake's moments earlier.
"Yeah? How long did it take them to get there?"
There was no response; the only sound being the tap tap tapping of the faunas' foot.
"Exactly, there's no excuse. You told them about your concerns just like you told me."
"You really think we wouldn't have come as soon as we knew about it?"
Yang recognized his voice and didn't bother turning around.
"Maybe if you weren't so busy flirting."
"Neptune made me-"
"You're a grown man, Neptune didn't make you do anything."
Blake found herself pinching the bridge of her nose.
One of those moments where she understood how Weiss felt on daily basis.
"Could you not, please ?"
Yang shut her mouth, not wanting to stress her out any further.
Sun parted his lips to speak, before taking another look at a saddened Blake and the unconscious girl she sat next to.
It was the first sign of weakness he ever really saw in Ilia.
Her usual greyish-blue eyes were dull.
It wasn't right.
He put a hand to his pectoral, feeling the scar there. That girl was a fighter. It felt like it took ages just for the whip mark to heal up right and stop hurting.
Now, Sun wasn't one to brag but he considered himself a pretty decent fighter and rightfully so. Ilia was able to keep up with him and the like without being a trained huntress so what the hell did they do to her?
His tail swung gracefully as he thought before he finally walked towards Blake's chair, resting his folded arms on it's back.
"It doesn't add up to me. I have a semblance, Blake has a semblance, and Ilia still fought like hell." Sun put a hand to his chin, grazing the ever slow-growing hairs on it.
"Your semblance is connected to your aura. If you haven't unlocked one, you haven't unlocked the other. Without aura, you might as well be a normal person." Blake hadn't moved from her current position; eyes still stuck on Ilia's current state.
The thought had already occurred to her, but her main priority was to be there for the orphaned girl. With Blake possibly being the closest thing she considered family.
She honestly didn't know if she should stay, or bring the fight to them.
She knew what Ilia would want, but that didn't mean it was the smartest choice.
"Ilia was far from normal....I uh, I meant that in a good way."
"I know, Sun."
Yang turned her attention to Blake, knowing if she didn't say anything now she'd be there all night.
"I know you want to be here but you should probably get some sleep first. I can stay if you want."
"Nah." Sun briefly cut in.
"No?"
"How about this; you stay with Blake and I'll stay with Ilia."
"I don't know.."
"What? Because I'm a guy?"
"No, because you're a faunas. I doubt you or Blake would want to be here any longer than you need to."
"I can just sneak in, Neptune and I can switch shifts. Just let me help."
Yang caught the sound of guilt in his voice. "Okay."
She left the room with Blake, but not before turning around one last time only to see Sun sit a chair parallel to Ilia with his head low.
_____
"How does Atlas even have a station here?"
"They're the only kingdom that combined their academy with the military. People are worried, and not everyone wants to put their entire safety in the hands of a young blond girl who likes to punch things."
"They were fine with that in Vale.." Yang mumbled.
She decided to change the topic.
"So..ya think Sun will be able to sneak in there?"
"The same guy who snuck into a 3-story dormitory window?"
"Good point." Yang shrugged.
It was hard to forget those perverted antics, but everything seemed easier back then.
"I think Weiss is still traumatized by that..." Blake's sentence trailed off as her attention was stolen by the scrutinizing group of soldiers walking by.
Yang silently kicked an empty can on the ground as she walked. She didn't pay much mind to them but she wasn't used to the staring. Staring at the loud bright yellow arm, maybe, but that's just humanity's natural curiosity upon seeing something different.
Some people even think it's cool.
Atlas did make it after all. They were probably used to it, they had robotic everything.
A faunas, though? That was a different story. A story that was known by way too many people and was told way too many times.
"So much for a sanctuary."
"Welp, you could always put the bow on, giving me the right to hit whomever I please."
"I'm not, and you promised."
"I actually didn't. I said I'd think about it."
"Ugh-"
"-butttt, I'm not gonna do anything. For you."
Depending on the situation...
That last sentence she said under her breath didn't fail to reach Blake's ears.
She chose to ignore it.
The rest of the day felt longer than it should have. Although, Blake did appreciate the blonde's attempt to keep her occupied; keeping a roaming mind stable. She also didn't miss the amount of strength Yang had not to do anything and completely ignore any pompous faunas-hating assholes.
The mere sight of her eyes turning red scared most of them off anyway.
Soon, they were both walking up the stairs of a hotel. A temporary place to stay until they got a hold of the situation, courtesy of General Ironwood.
"Wow, this is nicer than I thought. Nicer than the ones we've been in anyway." Yang stated, looking up at the decorative pictures hanging above the stairwell.
"It is. Although, I miss the bed at home."
"Me too. We'll be back soon..just later than we expected."
Yang reached into her pocket and grabbed her scroll. "That reminds me, I gotta call Ruby. I haven't had the chance to."
By the time they got to their room, Yang said her I love yous and byes getting a smile from Blake after Ruby made yet another joke about her calling Blake "sis" after they get married.
Yang grabbed a set of pajamas out of her bag and began to change.
"Well darn. Looks like Ruby ruined my proposal." Yang said as she pulled her tank top over her head.
Blake gave her a playful roll of the eyes as she exhaustedly made a Bee-line straight for the bed.
"Don't look at me like that, I could've been telling the truth for all you knew." The blonde said before plopping down on the mattress.
As always, her girlfriend instinctively got closer until she was nuzzled under her neck.
Blake was more cuddly than you'd think at first glance.
Yang wondered if it was a cat thing.
Did actual cats like to do that all night? She wouldn't know, the only pet she ever had was her Corgi, Zwei.
She definitely wasn't complaining. In fact, it was cute.
Yang was always pretty hyper-aware of her affections, being that she was a sometimes over affectionate person. She didn't have much problem expressing herself.
Blake had a relaxed, content look on her face. A big upgrade from the heart-racing nervousness that plagued her when they'd near each other back at Beacon.
They had a bond that she never really quite felt with Sun.
Suffice to say, she was comfortable where they were, both literally and figuratively.
Yang couldn't help but to stare at the girl, taking in every detail.
Feeling eyes on her, Blake looked up at her and was met with a wide grin.
The raised eyebrow and slight tilt of her head, which Yang found adorable, was enough to where she couldn't contain herself.
"..Is something wrong?" The girl questioned.
"Not at all."
Blake smiled, melting into her embrace as Yang put a hand on her cheek. They inched closer until her eyes closed and she felt lips against hers.
After a moment, Yang pulled away.
"Bathroom!"
Blake nodded and rested her head on the pillow as she waited on her to finish up.
It didn't take that long, or at least Yang thought it didn't. Nevertheless she found the feline faunas asleep causing Yang to giggle.
"I guess someone was sleepy." She mumbled...to herself.
Yang walked up to her starting her usual routine of covering her up and removing the jacket she gave her. She fell asleep very close to Yang's side, taking up most of the space. The blonde gently slid in, careful not to wake her, getting as comfortable as she could manage with what little she had.
Yang wrapped an arm around her whilst the faunas inched closer, apparently finding her chest a better spot than the pillow.
It was nice and she was just beginning to fall asleep until her scroll rang. She quickly reached for it in a rush to mute it before it disturbed Blake any further.
She was a bit surprised to see it was Sun at this time of night.
She answered it, hoping nothing was wrong.
"Hello?" Yang quietly answered.
"Hi...hey."
"What?"
"Why are we whispering?"
The slurring of his words made her suspicious.
"Blake is asleep...are you-have you been drinking or something?"
"A little bit."
"What the hell? Aren't you supposed to be with Ilia?"
"Neptune is, but I'm gonna go. I forgot where it is but I'm gonna..."
"I don't think that's a good idea. Where are you?"
Yang sighed before slowly rising to slip out of the bed as quietly as she could. She put the scroll to her ear, holding it with her shoulder as she searched around for her boots.
"I don't know, a bar."
"How don't you- just ask the bartender." She tried her best to keep her voice low through her frustration.
Low chatter was heard in the background before his voice was heard again.
"Uh, the bar on third."
Finally finding her boots she sat back down on the bed, reaching down to tie them. As she rose she felt a slender hand on her back followed by a tired voice.
"Where are you going?"
Blake wasn't one to be nosey and she trusted Yang but the sight of her tying her boots and putting on her backpack made her wonder. Some contents of the pack included ammo in it; shotgun slugs and the like along with her gauntlet and extra ammo for Blake.
You wouldn't really need that for a stroll in the park.
"I'm going to get Sun."
The surprised and/or confused look on Blake's face said enough.
"Long story short: he's been drinking and the last thing he needs is to walk into a forest full of Grimm. Plus it's late and I don't really trust some of these racist citizens."
"Why are you bringing your backpack?" Blake questioned.
"Just in case. You said I can't hit anyone you never said I couldn't shoot 'em."
More silence.
Yang guessed her lack of sleep caused that to go over her head.
"..I'm joking."
Blake shook her head as she sluggishly reached over to check the time. It was around midnight.
What in the world was Sun doing?
"Do you want me to come with?"
Yang waved her off, dismissing the idea. "No, I got this. Get some rest."
She had to admit she was pretty tired.
Blake nodded, figuring she could worry about it when she's had a good nights rest.
"See ya, kitten."
Yang said as she exited the room.
Something told her this would be a looong night.
They may have had their differences, but there was no way she'd let the guy try to find his way back like that. She doubted he'd be able to sneak in inebriated anyway.
Who knows what a hateful soldier on his nightshift might do to a lone faunas?
This way, she'd at least be able to sleep like a baby tonight without worry or guilt.
She purposely left out that thought during her conversation with Blake but one thing was for sure.
She was not about to let what happened to Ilia happen to anyone else.