Lilly couldn't remember laughing so much in a long time. Throughout lunch, she and Randi had ganged up on the unsuspecting male of their team, ribbing him about his obsession. Randi, it turned out, had a knack for turning people's words around on them and provided most of the fun. To his credit, Smit took it well, never taking it too personal while being willing to make fun of himself along the way. A shame Honey wasn't here for this.
Returning to the room, Lilly found it much easier to work on her assignment, cranking out almost a thousand more words than needed. At one point, Honey had sent her a message apologizing and saying they would be out longer than expected. Lilly had fired off a quick acknowledgement but wasn't concerned. Told her she had the whole day off. No need to ask forgiveness for staying out a little late with her friends.
Her partner being so close with their neighbors had been a point of annoyance at first, but the two of them had talked about it a few days ago and come to an agreement. Lilly would be less confrontational with Yang if Honey promised to stop trying to force them together. Considering I already promised to try to be nicer, I really didn't give up anything on that one. Besides, if spending an afternoon with another team made her partner happy, who was she to complain?
Content with the ending of her essay, Lilly saved the draft, vowing to come back to it later for editing. With a quick button press, the system logged off, monitor sliding back down into the desk with a quiet click.
"Finished!" Lilly exclaimed as she jumped out of the chair, nearly toppling it sideways in the process.
Randi shot her a thumbs-up, eyes still glued on the novel Blake had leant her. By the looks of it, she was already nearing the end. Guess Blake's recommendation was a good one. Maybe I should ask to borrow it next. Smit was busy playing some game on his scroll but set it down as a victorious tune played, signaling his victory.
"Finished with what?" Smit asked as he sat up on the edge of his mattress.
"Just typed up my essay for Oobleck's class. Had trouble getting started this morning, but it went pretty quick once I got going."
Smit shook his head in disapproval and groaned, "You really are such a dweeb. He just assigned it yesterday. It isn't even due for a few more days! Why waste a weekend on that?"
Lilly glanced at the scroll beside him, which was making a repetitive chime, likely associated with him gaining experience, loot, or whatever other reward system it used to hook people for hours on end. "You're right," she replied sarcastically. "I could've been doing something so much more productive like you. Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow? Clearly, you're the model student."
"Glad to see you recognize it." As usual, Smit shrugged off her quips in stride. "In my defense, I spent the whole morning training. Pretty sure I earned a little leisure time, thank you very much. What were you up to all morning?" With an eye roll, he added, "If you say you spent it staring at that assignment, I'll have you committed."
Lilly fought off the embarrassed blush, realizing that had been her plan until Randi intervened. Thankfully, that gave her a better excuse. "Actually, Randi and I hung out with Juniper for a while."
Smit's disbelief stung a little as he looked to Randi, who had set her book down at hearing her name and nodded in confirmation. Oh, come on! I'm not that antisocial! Am I? She grumbled at the fact that her own mind was doubting her as well. I just avoid Ruby's team because of Yang. Juniper hangs out with them a lot, so that's always a risk. Cardinal is a bunch of thugs. As the list went on, Lilly paused in realization. Okay, maybe I am that bad.
"I'm guessing the visit was Randi's idea?" Darn him for being such a good guesser. Her lack of answer confirmed Smit's suspicion. "So, Randi, looking for a rematch with Pyrrha already?"
"I have no quarrel with Pyrrha," Randi responded. "She's a skilled fighter and was able to defeat me fairly. I look forward to fighting her again sometime."
"Oh, come on Rand," Smit implored, resorting to his ridiculous nickname for his partner. Is it really so hard to say one extra syllable? "She not only beat you; she had you at the end of her sword! We all saw you talking after the match. Invincible Girl rubbing your face in it?"
"I already told you, she thanked me for the match and asked if we could spar together sometime." Randi smugly answered, proud to have impressed such a renowned fighter, even as she ignored Smit's feigned disbelief. "She enjoyed the challenge and hoped I could push her to get better." The newly familiar, devious smile once again appeared on Randi's face as she continued, "And if I happen to notice potential flaws in her form to exploit in class, all the better."
Randi may not have been bitter about the loss, but she obviously wanted a little revenge.
"That's more like it!" Smit laughed, mumbling something about one of his teammates being normal. "Well, just promise it won't take so long next time. You two must have set a record for the longest spar in school history. It was exciting at first, but got kind of old after the first three hours." Smit's penchant for over exaggeration was alive and well, it seemed. "I mean, I knew you were good, but that was insane! How on Remnant did you even keep up with her?"
Lilly could admit to being curious as well. Randi clearly had trained in a trial-by-fire type of scenario, being on her own in the Mistralian outskirts for so long, but Pyrrha was otherworldly in her talent. She doubtless had been training most of her life with the best tutors available, and the results spoke for themselves. That a random faunus from the middle of nowhere could come along and actually give her a challenge was pretty unlikely, yet Randi had done just that.
"It definitely wasn't easy. Pyrrha's fast and versatile, able to switch styles instantly, keeping you on the back foot. To be honest, I had to rely pretty heavily on my Semblance." Randi shrugged sheepishly at the admission. "Without it, she probably would've wiped the floor with me."
Smit and Lilly both looked at each other in confusion. You know, I don't even know what her Semblance is. I've told them mine, and Smit's is pretty obvious, but Randi never mentioned hers.
Smit seemed even more embarrassed to not know her Semblance, which, as her partner, was pretty bad. "You've never really told us what kind of Semblance you have. Must be something pretty ridiculous if it can put you on par with Pyrrha." Somehow, he managed to make his lack of knowledge sound like Randi's fault. Sure, she never told us, but we never asked, either.
"Hm, you're right. I guess I did keep you all in the dark on that one." Randi paused as she realized she had kept her Semblance secret from them. Lilly doubted she had done so maliciously. More likely, Randi had just forgotten to mention it and then it never came up. "It's kind of hard to explain. Let me ask you something. How would you describe me?"
They both hesitated, trying to figure out what stood out about their teammate beside the obvious ears and tail. Lilly rather doubted those had anything to do with her Semblance and tried in vain to come up with a better answer. Finally, Smit decided to venture a guess. "Um...tall?"
Lilly's hand struck her forehead at his answer. Really? That's your best guess? I kind of doubt her Semblance has anything to do with her height, idiot.
Randi chuckled before trying to specify what she meant. "Sorry, not physically. How would you describe me as a person?"
"After lunch today, pure evil," Smit joked, recalling the teasing he had endured. Before Randi could try to explain again, Smit continued, "But seriously, I'd say you seem to just know things. You can't read minds, can you?" Lilly was pretty sure his worried look was in regards to some of the thoughts that flew through the void he called a brain on a daily basis. Teenage guy in a room with three beautiful girls? Pretty sure no one wants to know what goes on in there.
"I'd say it's more like you're really aware of everything," Lilly amended, earning a nod of concurrence from the wolf girl.
"That's actually pretty close," Randi agreed. "My Semblance gives me a sort of hyper-awareness of my surroundings. Basically, I can take a look at everything around me for a moment."
"Wait," Smit cut in. "Are you saying you can freeze time?"
Randi laughed at his question. "Not like that. It's more like everything moves really slow when I want it to. While that's happening, I get a three-sixty view and can plan accordingly. It only lasts for a little while usually, but I can hold on for a few seconds if I need to. Of course, those few seconds are slowed down, so it seems a lot longer to me. The problem is, using it that long can wear me out, so it's better in really short bursts."
As Lilly mulled over the possibilities of such a power, Smit pushed for more details. "So, you could see her attacks coming and move to block instantly?"
"I wish. I can't really move while I'm using it since my body is also slowed down. Only my mind is sped up, but I can analyze an attack as it's happening and plan an adjustment. The actual movement comes afterwards and still relies on skill like anyone else. With enough practice, I've gotten pretty good at judging attacks based on initial muscle movements, so I can usually predict an attack as it's being started. The extra knowledge gives me an edge."
"So, basically, you could predict every attack Pyrrha made right before she launched it, allowing you to block better." Again, Lilly seemed to be right on the money as Randi nodded along.
"Yeah. It also lets me see openings in other people's form to plan my attacks better. Pyrrha was harder to read than most, but it still let me land a few blows and avoid a lot of hers. Problem was, she made me deploy my shield fully and attacked where I couldn't see." Lilly recalled the moment Randi's shield had expanded. It didn't take long for the fight to turn in Pyrrha's favor after that. "I still need line-of-sight, even with my Semblance. In the end, it simply gives me a better chance to attack and defend, but can't solve everything. It's great against things like Grimm, who have no need of feints or misdirects, but someone like Pyrrha makes it harder."
Smit's brow furrowed as he likely tried to think of more questions to ask. Meanwhile, Lilly's mind raced with the details Randi had given. It's not mind-reading, but it might as well be when it comes to combat. No wonder I can never beat her. Any move I make, she sees coming and can adapt as needed. There's pretty much no way to surprise her with a power like that. Add on a crazy amount of skill, and Randi's dominance suddenly made a lot of sense.
Out in the hall, a growing rhythm of pounding feet approached, stopping just before their room before ending with the slamming open of a door. Through the wall, the muffled sounds of their neighbors could be heard, before falling into a subtler hum of conversation. Guess Honey's back from her trip into town. Kinda weird for them to be rushing back to the room like that. Randi cocked her head, something from next door catching her attention as she leaned to listen in.
Curious as to what had suddenly intrigued her teammate, Lilly asked, "What's up with them?"
"I think we're about to find out," Randi replied as she nodded to the door.
Sure enough, the door soon opened, though not nearly as excitedly as their neighbor's had. Honey quickly stepped into the room, followed closely by three members of RWBY. Lilly's frustration at the sudden invasion was cut short when she caught sight of the girls. Nothing about Honey set her off, looking a little timid as usual, although there were clear signs of exertion from running mixed with a hint of worry. It was the other three that told Lilly something was wrong.
Weiss looked resigned to her fate, but her brows were drawn down in anger as she stood with her arms crossed, head upturned slightly as she refused to look at anyone. Ruby, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck. The young girl's eyes darted around, frantically searching every inch of the room for something before latching onto Lilly with a pleading look in her eyes. Obviously, something had happened to upset the two.
But it was Yang that made it clear the matter was serious.
Yang's eyes were red, but not in the expected way. Her wide eyes valiantly fought to hold back tears, but the lines down her face proved that they had failed before. For the first time Lilly could remember, those bloodshot eyes stared straight into her own without a hint of anger or awkwardness. Instead, they seemed to be begging Lilly for something. Her hands were in fists, but only loosely, their usual confidence sapped as they shook slightly.
Lilly used to dream of the day she would get revenge on Yang, leaving the girl sobbing the way Lilly had after the incident with Bianca. Seeing it now in person, even she couldn't help but feel bad for Yang.
"Whoa, what happened? Are you guys okay?" Smit was the first to speak as Randi and Lilly stared on, jumping to his feet in honest concern. Yang looked like she wanted to answer, but all that came out was a choked sob.
Instead, Honey tried to explain. "Blake...left."
"What do you mean she left? Where'd she go?" Lilly finally managed to blurt out.
"W-we're not sure," Ruby stammered nervously, stepping forward when Honey seemed unsure how to continue. "There was a...disagreement...and she, um, told us something by accident." The small leader hesitated in her explanation, wanting to give them details but trying to keep certain parts hidden. The whole time, she kept stealing glances towards Weiss.
"Is this all because she's a faunus?" Randi questioned.
"N-no, it's more than that. She–" Ruby cut off as she realized Randi already knew more than they had a few hours ago. The entire room turned in shocked silence to stare at the seemingly all-knowing faunus in the room, confused as to how she knew the hidden detail. "H-how did you..."
As Ruby trailed off, Randi simply shrugged and replied, "I thought it was pretty obvious. I mean, the bow on her head was always twitching."
"How long have you known?" Smit demanded, distraught over being left out of such juicy gossip.
"Since Initiation."
"And you never thought to tell us?"
Again, Randi shrugged, unbothered by the lack of sharing. "Wasn't my secret to share. She clearly wanted to keep it hidden. Would've been wrong for me to out her like that." Lilly was amazed at both her teammate's knowledge and consideration, having kept another student's secret without ever being asked. Note to self. If I ever need to talk to someone about personal issues, Randi can be trusted to keep it quiet. "Anyways, I think there's a more pressing matter to attend to." Randi nodded back to Ruby for emphasis.
"Right." Ruby focused back on the reason for their intrusion. "W-well, she told us some things that were pretty, um, upsetting–"
Weiss stomped her foot and barged forward, cutting off the rambling attempt at an explanation. "Stop tiptoeing around the problem, Ruby!" Weiss then turned to face Lilly and cut to the chase. "Blake told us she was White Fang."
Randi's omniscience was quickly disproven, as even she was surprised by the sudden reveal. Lilly tried to reason out how a member of a terrorist group could be a student at Beacon, but couldn't rationalize it without coming to conclusions that sounded more conspiracy than explanation. Were they trying to infiltrate the school? Did they just want to see how we train to make themselves stronger? The White Fang was supposed to have a decent number of Huntsman-level fighters, but the vast majority were pretty weak on their own. Many didn't even have their aura unlocked, relying on numbers and guerilla attacks for the most part.
Smit, on the other hand, had a far different reaction. "She's one of those...those monsters?!?" he seethed. Small flames began to lick his clenched fists, a hatred crossing his face that made Lilly and Yang's interactions look friendly in comparison.
"Exactly." Weiss nodded to Smit. "She tried to defend their actions. When I pressed the matter, she finally admitted that she was one of them, then ran like the coward that she is." Weiss seemed pleased to find someone who agreed with her, ignoring the aggrieved looks her other two teammates were shooting her.
Yang wiped the gathering moisture from her eyes and finally spoke up. "Look, we don't know for certain that she's still with them." Weiss scoffed at Yang's unrelenting defense of her partner but didn't respond. "Maybe she is, maybe she left them. We'll never know if we don't find her." The sullen girl then turned back to Lilly. "Honey told us you might be able to help. Something about your Semblance?"
Suddenly, Lilly understood why they were telling her team so much. With Blake avoiding them, they had no way to speak to their teammate. Lilly's abilities, however, might allow them to figure out exactly where the girl was and track her down.
Then again, if Blake ran, she clearly didn't want to be found right now. Maybe she just needed some time to clear her head or something. It seemed like such a small thing to check on her, but Lilly knew from experience that her Semblance could often be an invasion of privacy. She could remember finding out embarrassing details of people's lives from diary entries, discovering one of her classmate's parents was secretly in rehab, and other accidental revelations from back when she used it more often. It wasn't until she tried spying on one of her teachers using a returned homework assignment that she really scaled back. It took weeks before she could look her math teacher in the eye again after seeing him with his wife that evening. Even now, the brief images made her uncomfortable.
"I don't know..." Lilly started, still trying to decide what to do but unwilling to let the silence drag on as the room awaited her answer.
Before she could react, a set of hands latched onto her shoulders. Lilly tensed in anticipation of the follow-up punch, but no such attack came.
Instead, her hated rival was now right in front of her, tears once again slipping through and following the trails down the girl's face as they locked eyes. "Please," Yang choked out, hardly louder than a whisper as grief threatened to overwhelm her. "I know you don't like me, but we need your help. Blake needs your help." The distraught girl sniffed before continuing, "I'll do anything."
The thought of having Yang indebted to her was tempting, but Lilly quickly squashed the urge. Everyone in the room – except Weiss, who was shaking her head – looked to Lilly with disappointment. They really think I'm so petty as to refuse just to spite Yang. She may hate the girl, but she wasn't that heartless.
Lilly gently removed Yang's hands from her and tried to explain. "Look, I want to help. Really, I do," she added, sensing the doubt of the room. "I'm just worried about invading her privacy. Maybe she just needs time to clear her head before she feels comfortable returning and explaining everything to you. It's only been a few hours. Hopefully, she'll be back by curfew and you all can sit down and talk it out."
Yang used the back of her arm to wipe her nose, snorting slightly at the same time. "I can't take that chance. What if she never comes back? We need to talk to her; let her explain it to us." Desperately, Yang continued, "At least let me know she's safe."
With a sigh, Lilly relented. "Okay, I'll help." The hint of a hopeful smile sneaked onto Yang's face at her acceptance before she pulled Lilly into a tight hug.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Yang sobbed into her suddenly damp shoulder.
Lilly managed to pry the crying girl off of her and stepped back. "Understand, I'm doing this for her. You don't owe me anything. Now, did Honey tell you how my Semblance works?"
Yang led Lilly – along with the other five teens – into the next room. "A little. She said you need something that belongs to Blake. Somehow it lets you see her or something."
So, Honey only gave them the bare minimum, eh? Looks like she's pretty good at keeping secrets too. While some students flaunted their Semblances openly, Lilly preferred to keep hers quiet, somewhat embarrassed at its lack of combat capabilities. Despite the seriousness of the situation, a small part of her was thrilled to find that her Semblance would prove useful where others had failed. Can't punch your way out of this one, it seems.
"Kind of," Lilly responded to Yang's description. It wasn't that far off from the truth, but she felt the need to clarify. "I need something she's handled recently. The more recent, the better. With it, I should be able to see what she sees. Hopefully, we can figure out her location based on her surroundings."
Ruby shot past her to the bookcase, blurring back at inhuman speeds with a well-worn novel in her hands. "Here, try this! She was reading it this morning." She excitedly pushed the thick tome into Lilly's hands, thrilled to have helped.
Lilly shook her head at the attempt as she handed the book back. "Sorry," she explained, realizing she could have been a little clearer, "but she has to have been the last person to touch it. If I try on this, I'll just wind up connecting to you now." Ruby dropped the book with a gasp, horrified to have ruined the attempt. Lilly assured her it was okay before glancing around the room and asking, "What all did she do this morning?" Hopefully, they could identify something she could use from Blake's morning routine.
Yang and Ruby looked at each other, hoping the other had some extra insight before the older girl finally answered. "Not much. She knew we were going out today, so she pretty much just lounged in bed with her book." Ruby's head dipped at the last part, still ashamed to have interfered. To be fair, it would have probably been their best bet, but Lilly wasn't so cruel as to rub that in.
"What about the bathroom. Did she take a shower? Brush her hair? Put on makeup? Anything you can remember might help."
Ruby suddenly perked up once more. "Yeah! She did her hair this morning before we went to breakfast. I think she brushed her teeth afterwards as well. Her stuff should still be on the counter!" With renewed energy, Ruby led the way to the bathroom, excited to be able to undo her previous error.
Just before they reached the door, Weiss interrupted them with an embarrassed cough. "I...may have cleaned up the bathroom before we left." Seeing a confused look on her leader's face, Weiss added, "I had to move everything to wipe down the countertop...including Blake's toiletries."
"WEISS!" Ruby and Yang shouted in accusation, realizing their teammate ruined another attempt.
"It's not like I did it on purpose. How was I supposed to know we would need to leave everything untouched?!? Besides, if you all would clean up after yourselves, I wouldn't have to rearrange the entire bathroom every morning." Weiss tried to defend herself from the barrage, turning the accusation back on the pair. Judging by her tone, this wasn't the first time she had tried to instill order on her team. Unfortunately, that meant the bathroom was probably a wash.
"It's fine. Let me think a moment." Lilly's eyes roved over the room once more, coming to rest on the pillow on Blake's bed.
Moving quickly lest someone erroneously tried to help, Lilly grabbed the pillow and concentrated. She vaguely heard someone start to speak before silence overtook her, her vision being overtaken by that of another.
To Lilly's continued dismay, the scene she beheld was her own back, meaning someone else in the room had disturbed the pillow. I really can't win today. Before she disconnected, Lilly's mind noted an unhelpful detail. Ugh, my hair's a wreck. She threw the pillow back on its mattress, her own sight returning to her as she faced the group once more.
"I thought she might have left a note or something," Yang sheepishly explained. I guess that makes sense, in a way.
With a forlorn sigh, Lilly walked across the room to the team's dressers. This is gonna suck. "I've got another idea. Which of these belong to Blake?" Yang and Ruby both pointed to the upper drawers of the dresser in front of Lilly but kept their distance. Good. It's bad enough I have to dig through her stuff. No reason everyone else should take a peek. Just to be safe, she asked the teams to stand back out of respect for Blake's privacy.
Opening the top drawer, Lilly wasn't surprised to be greeted by stacks of underwear and socks. She wasn't eager to stand around holding the frilly pink-and-brown undergarment that sat on top and prepared to close the drawer before she noticed the corner of something poking out from underneath the unmentionables.
Reaching deeper, Lilly uncovered another book, keeping it hidden within the drawer. If the hiding place wasn't enough of a clue as to Blake's desire to keep it concealed, the cover made it obvious. Lilly blushed at the imagery. Ninjas of Love: Master of Ninja Wire. It seems Blake is into more mature literature. Remind me to be careful what I borrow from her.
Fighting to hide her reddening cheeks, Lilly made sure not to raise the book high enough for the others to see. The last thing I need is to be seen with this. She tested the connection and quickly found herself looking down at a steaming cup of tea, ignoring the fact that Blake must have handled the salacious story recently. Judging from the slight haziness of the image, she figured the book had seen use the night before. Thank goodness. If it had been another night or two, I might not be able to make anything out at all.
"I've got her!" Lilly called out, trusting Honey to explain that she wouldn't hear any responses. "Looks like she's...drinking tea. Give me a minute to figure out where she is."
The warm glow of the late-afternoon sun meant Blake was seated outside, likely near some diner based on the simple table in front of her. The small, white teacup in her hand had a simple design of red flowers. Stop staring at your tea and look around already! Finally, Blake set the cup down and looked up, giving Lilly a decent view of the girl's surroundings, as well as the person she was sitting with. She hastened to describe the scene, hoping that one of them would recognize the area.
"She's sitting outside some diner in town." She started, content that Blake couldn't have made it to another city in a few short hours. "She's...not alone. Some blonde monkey faunus is sitting across from her. Open white shirt. Blue Jeans." Abs for days. "They appear to be talking, but I don't know what they're saying." She had never seen the boy before, but maybe RWBY knew her friends better. She thought it a little odd that the boy's mug said #1 Headmaster, but it didn't seem worth mentioning.
Blake seemed distracted, glancing around for a moment and letting Lilly take in more of the scene. The diner was packed, with two servers rushing between tables, wearing some rather odd pirate attire that went with the decorations inside. The sword mounted on the far wall seemed a little out of place, but who was she to judge? The place was clearly popular, so they must be doing something right.
Across the street, a number of other businesses had people filtering in and out, none as busy as some of the larger stores or even this diner Blake had chosen. A few were pretty small places she had never heard of: a dinky pawn shop, a small jewelry store, and a florist. It was the larger store near the corner that caught her eye, however.
"Diner is pirate themed. Sword hanging in the back. Place is really busy today. Couple of other stores, but I think I've heard of one of them. It's called Tukson's Book Trade."
Lilly felt someone gently shake her arm – her actual arm, not Blake's – which was the signal that she could disconnect. The first thing she saw was Honey standing next to her, grasping her arm. Lilly quickly realized she was still holding the book and tried to slip it back into its hiding place, but not before Honey must have caught a glimpse of the cover. At any other time, Lilly would've found Honey's mix of shock and embarrassment hilarious, but not right now.
Ruby and Yang both appeared relieved at the info she provided. Somebody must know the area.
"Thank you!" Again, Lilly felt the crushing embrace, although this time Ruby also joined in, her shorter arms struggling to encircle the two girls.
Wiggling free and gasping for air, Lilly asked, "I take it you know the place?"
Yang nodded. "Blake's dragged me to that book store a few times, so I know how to get there." Looking over to her remaining teammates, she cheered, "C'mon girls. Let's go snag that cat and bring her home!"
"Aren't you all forgetting something?" Weiss's sudden question caused them all to stop. Aggravated at the lack of answer, she continued, "That...thing she's with was the one we caught earlier. Those officers said he was a criminal. Now, she's with him. Doesn't that make it obvious where her allegiances lie? I mean, he was arrested only a few hours ago! I doubt they let him go so quickly."
Left unsaid was the possibility he had broken out and was on the run. Blake being with him certainly looked bad. No way she broke a criminal out of police custody. She wouldn't do that! Then again...if she's White Fang...
"It doesn't change anything." Yang's resolute response shocked Weiss as the taller girl stepped forward. "Maybe he was let go. Maybe he posted bail. Shoot, maybe the freakin' Headmaster got him released." Yang shouted towards the ceiling, a slight hysterical tone sneaking in. Her voice suddenly flattened as she stared down her sister's partner. "It. Doesn't. Matter." Weiss tried to stammer out an answer, but was quickly cut off. "All that matters is Blake. I'm still going to drag her back to this room, tie her to her chair this time, and make her explain everything. You don't have to like it, but you're not gonna stop me either. Now are you coming, or do I have to drag you along?"
"You wouldn't dare!" Weiss's defiance was short-lived, seeing something in Yang's intense gaze that told her the girl wasn't bluffing. "O-of course I'm coming. Someone has to keep you all safe."
"What if she leaves before you get there?" Randi questioned, slowing the trio's march.
Lilly thought back to her vision and added, "She was nearly finished with her drink. I doubt she's going to stick around, especially near a place you might think to look."
Yang came to a sudden halt, realizing she would be back to square one if that happened. Lilly watched as the girl tried to think through the problem, face strained as she likely considered multiple scenarios but was unable to determine a suitable plan.
It was Ruby who finally had an idea. "What if you came with us?"
Lilly paused to consider the idea. Admittedly, it made sense. If Blake leaves, they'll need to track her down again. If I can bring something of hers with me, I might be able to get another connection and continue the hunt. Otherwise, it'll be dark by the time they get back and we might not find her at all. While she didn't relish the idea of spending the evening searching through Vale, she had already agreed to help and knew she might be their best chance of ever finding the girl.
"Fine, but I'll need a few minutes to get ready. You guys run ahead in case you can catch her before she leaves. I'll catch up. Hopefully, you won't even need me, but better safe than sorry." Yang nodded as she dragged Weiss and Ruby out the door. Lilly quickly instructed Honey, "Go with them. You can message me directions to follow and let me know if something comes up."
Honey nodded, asking her to hurry before running out the door and yelling that she was coming. Lilly quickly opened the drawer once more, knowing she would need something to connect to Blake again. Unfortunately, the book was no longer an option. Aside from how horrible it would be to carry such a thing around in public, Lilly couldn't use an item twice in a row. Stupid Semblance with its stupid rules.
Luckily, a small bookmark stuck out of the pages, which she quickly yanked out and stuffed in her pocket for later. She winced as she realized she probably could have glanced at the page number first for Blake's sake, but discarded the thought, seeing as how petty that was compared to the current situation. As long as no one else touched the flimsy object, Lilly would have a way to connect again if needed.
"Alright, guys," Lilly slammed the drawer shut and addressed the remaining two members of her team, "let's go. Make sure you have your scrolls before we leave. Also need to go grab my weapons before we head out." Since Smit didn't use any and Randi kept hers with her armor in the room, she was the only one holding them up. Before Smit could ask why they needed to be armed, Lilly added, "For all we know, that guy could be White Fang. I didn't want to say anything about it to Yang, but if Blake is a traitor, we could be running straight into a trap. I hope that's not the case, but I'd rather be prepared on the off chance it happens." At the mention of the group, Smit bristled and nodded his agreement.
It only took a few minutes for them to get to the bullheads, but every moment felt like Blake was slipping through their grasp. She hoped the others would be able to get there in time to catch Blake, knowing that the odds of getting to her if she decided to leave town were practically zero.
The bullhead shook slightly, engines roaring to life for the short trip. Lilly double-checked her weapons, ensuring they were fully loaded. Beside her, Randi stared out the window as they took off, weapons and helmet secured to her armor. Smit sat across from them, right leg bouncing anxiously as his hands glowed faintly with heat. No matter what awaited them, they were ready.
Lilly just hoped it wouldn't be needed.