July 31, 2020

It had been nearly 3 weeks since the fire. Since then, no fires had come in for Vigilant. There was only medical calls, car accidents, and false alarms, the usual smells and bells ones.

Blake and Sun had begun dating, but had not done anything sexual yet. Blake still wished to test the waters with Sun and see how a full relationship would work out. As for Weiss and Jaune, things remained the same as before. Ruby still was single and a virgin. Yang and George both still had their relationship going strong, and it was clear that they both wanted it to get stronger.

At 12, Blake, who was working the phones with 4 other dispatchers, was about to take a 30-minute break when a call came in on the police line, indicating it had been a rerouted 911 call. Blake quickly answered it, saying, "Fire Department, Alarm Operator T875."

"My husband just fucking shot himself," a female voice yelled. "Oh my God! His face!"

"Ma'am, calm down. Where are you?" Blake began typing on a computer.

"I'm at my house at 677 Ripley Road! I'm covered in blood! He fucking shot himself right in front of me!"

"Alright, are police on the way?"

"They said they were!"

Blake sighed. "Alright, we'll send the fire department over for the ambulance. Call us back at 010-453-9221 if you need to directly update us with any more information. Calm down. Everything's gonna be alright." She then hung up and sent the info of the call to the paging station through the CAD system. "Holy shit, man..."

Another dispatcher turned to her and said, "Tough call, huh?"

"Yep... Husband shot himself in the face in front of his wife." She then rubbed her eyes and got up. "I'm going outside to smoke."

The dispatcher replied in a mocking tone, "That'll kill your lungs, young one."

"So will being a firefighter, even with SCBAs, and you don't see me stop doing that." Blake then signed on a sign-out sheet and left for her break.

Yang, working a brand new job at a recruitment office for the Hunting Corps in Goodwill Engine 6's first-due, got off of work at 4 after working for 8 hours. As she got on her motorcycle, she said to herself, "I'm loving this. 4 days a week is a great idea!" Her job entailed taking phone calls from people interested in becoming hunters and making phone calls to other recruitment offices across the country. She was paid 35 Lien (24.5 USD) per hour and worked from Tuesday to Friday on odd weeks and Monday to Thursday on even weeks.

Before going home, she decided to stop by at George's apartment. She parked in front of the building and walked in. She smiled as she went into an elevator and was lifted to the 2nd floor. She then turned right and walked to George's apartment.

She knocked on the door. "Georgie, are you there?"

"Of course, Yang. Come on in." George then opened the door. "I just got back from work over at the printing shop. We had a huge job today involving 500 copies of some political pamphlets."

"Really? For who?"

"That asshole city councilman who wants to cut paid firefighters. Still, money is money, and customers are customers."

"Oh. That guy." Yang then closed the door and said, "So, as for me, I just got out from the recruitment office. It's great. They got good play and good hours. Plus, if I got a mission, they won't fire me since they're part of the Hunting Corps."

George then walked away to grab a box on the kitchen counter. "By the way, I got this for you." He then handed it to Yang, who opened it and found a necklace. "450 Lien (315 USD) well spent."

Yang smiled as she put the necklace on and said, "Oh my God... Thank you so much!" She then hugged George.

"Yang, I want to tell you something." The 2 then split, still holding each other at the waist.

"Of course."

"These past 6 or 7 something weeks have been the happiest I've ever been in my life, Yang, and you are the reason why. That is why I feel as though we are serious enough to warrant me saying this." He then held her right hand. "I love you, Yang Xiao Long."

Yang looked at him in surprise. She replied, "George, you are a very nice man, and you make me very happy. The thing is... Love is a strong word... But... My feelings have grown for you. Originally, I just wanted you in my pants when we first met. Obviously, things have grown. Now, I can't stop thinking about you, and I see you in my dreams a lot." She then embraced George and leaned in for a passionate kiss. After the kiss ended, she said, "I love you, George Owenfield."

George then laughed, followed by Yang. Then, their moment was interrupted by the sound of Goodwill's siren roaring up in the background.

George ran over to his pager and turned it on, catching several dispatch tones as well as the message.

"Vale City Fire Alarm on the air for Box 289 for 22 Interview Street for Vigilant Fire 5, Goodwill Engine 6, Excellence Fire 7, Enterprise Steamer 10, and the Assistant District 2 chief for a Box Alarm for reported flames in an abandoned apartment building. Repeating, Vale City Fire Alarm on the air for Box 289 for 22 Interview Street for Vigilant Fire 5, Goodwill Engine 6, Excellence Fire 7, Enterprise Steamer 10, and the Assistant District 2 chief for a Box Alarm for reported flames in an abandoned apartment building. Time is 1619 hours, Alarm Operator 341."

August 1, 2020

Ruby and Yang went out to the town while Blake did overtime and Weiss did duty time at the firehouse. They decided to do a pub crawl of 5 well-known bars in the Mayer-Mateo neighbourhood. "Ruby," said Yang as they walked to the first bar. "This neighbourhood is often nicknamed the Meatpacking District. While there used to be several large meat packing factories that closed up and moved elsewhere, there's another reason why it's called that name."

"I don't get it," Ruby replied. "Meatpack-" She then paused. "Oh... That..." She then giggled.

"Mayer-Mateo is the Meatpacking District, and the Townley neighbourhood is nicknamed the Scissor District. There's only one reason why they call it that. I think you can guess why."

"Yang, really?" Ruby then burst out laughing. "That's just... Wow..."

Then, Ruby accidentally ran into a man, making him drop his phone. The man said, "Oh, I'm sorry about that."

"It's okay," she replied. "Let me pick up your phone for you." As she reached for her phone, she noticed the name on the phone, which was still on, said 'Delwyn.' "Here you go." She then paused. "Wait a second..."

The man began to get worried. He looked to be about 20 and was wearing jeans and a red t-shirt. "Uhhh... Do you recognise me from somewhere?"

"Yeah... You kinda look like the king... I mean, it must be a weird coincidence to look like him and share his first name."

The man then sighed. "Alright... Now, you 2 girls must promise to not say a word, alright?"

Yang replied, "Of course. Our lips are sealed."

"Good." The man then got quieter. "I am the king. I come out to the city streets once every so often in casual clothes and enjoy myself when I have the time. I've been doing this for a month and I have not been caught until now."

Ruby could barely contain her excitement. "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!"

Yang said, "Calm down, Ruby. You don't wanna attract too much attention." She then shook hands with Delwyn IV. "It's an honour to meet you in person, your majesty."

"Thank you. What are your 2 names?"

"I am Yang Xiao Long," Yang replied. "This is my sister, Ruby Rose. We went out tonight for a pub crawl in the LGBT area of the city. I'm pan, she's bi."

Ruby said, "I recently came out, and I unfortunately got my heart broken soon afterwards."

"I'm sorry about that," the king replied. "So, you 2 are pub crawling too? Can I join?"

"Sure! The more the merrier!" Yang then led the 3 of them to a bar. "By the way, we're vollies with Vigilant Fire Company 5."

"Really? That must be an interesting experience. I assume you know the Schnee family then."

"We more than just know them," Ruby replied. "Weiss Schnee is our best friend, and she hunts with us. We're also hunters. We went to Beacon together. Weiss helped me, Yang, and another friend of ours named Blake get into the fire company. Unfortunately, she was the girl I was talking about earlier with the whole broken heart thing."

"Wow. That's interesting. So, ladies, who'll pay? I'm up for it." The group then sat down at the bar area of the restaurant they were at.

"Nah," Yang replied. "I got this. I'll let you do the next one."

August 3, 2020

Ruby, Yang, Blake, and Weiss all talked about the pub crawl with Delwyn IV at the firehouse's rec room. Blake asked, "So no one had recognised him at all until you 2 did?"

"Nope," Yang replied. "I'm shocked. Then again, he could pass for a random everydude if he wasn't the king."

Ruby said, "He was very friendly. He talked about how sometimes, the stress would get to him. After all, he's been king for 2 years and he's only 20 years old. It's a shame his father got into that car crash."

Weiss replied, "I know. That was a very sad day. Anyways, has he mentioned contacting you guys after that?"

"He gave us his personal cell number," Ruby replied. "He told us we could call at anytime on Saturdays, since at any other day, he'd be working."

Blake asked, "How do you know it's him?"

Ruby then pulled up a selfie she, Yang, and Delwyn had taken. "That is definitely the king. The face gives it away. Plus, he showed us his driver's licence, which has his royal status noted on it."

"I'm surprised he has no security," Weiss replied.

"He carries a loaded handgun wherever he goes," Yang said to Weiss. "It's concealed and he carries his firearm licence, his Firearm Category I, II, III, and IV permits, and his concealed carry extension permit in his wallet."

"Wow," Blake replied. "He possesses all of those?"

Ren then walked over from an office. "Hey girls. What are you all talking about?"

Ruby quickly replied, "Uhhh... We were talking about... Uhhh..." She then looked at a firefighting magazine. "VMC's bankruptcy! Yeah, that! That sucks, right? A lot of companies had trucks on order from them before they went under."

Ren replied, "Oh, that. It's a shame. They used to make good trucks before 2001, when they were restarted after 5 years of dormancy and became Vale Junk Corporation."

Weiss laughed. "I still can't believe some companies stuck with them for so long after the reorganisation. Their new trucks sucked."

Then, the pagers went off. "Vale City Fire Alarm on the air for..." The girls ran to a printer and read the information of the call. It was a medical call for a 55-year-old male complaining of chest pains.

"I'll go," Weiss said. "Anyone else?"

"I'll go too," Ruby replied.

"Me and Blake will stay here I guess," Yang replied.

Weiss and Ruby then hopped aboard Ambulance 201 alongside the paid guys. One of them then radioed, "Fire Alarm, Ambulance 201's en route with 4." The ambulance then pulled out of the station.

At 5:04, 2 minutes afterwards, the ambulance arrived at the location of the call. Ruby, Weiss, and the 2 paid guys stepped out and walked into an apartment building. Ruby went to a board of the apartments in the building and said, "It's on the 2nd floor."

She then joined the others as they walked up to the 2nd floor and walked down the hall to an apartment. A paid guy opened the door and saw a messy room and a man on the floor. He said, "I think that's our patient."

Weiss, holding an EMS bag, walked in. She said, "Sir, can you hear us?" After she got no reply, she said, "Sir, can you hear us?"

Ruby said, "I think he's out cold." She then helped wheel a stretcher into the room.

"Oh crap," Weiss said as she felt for a pulse which was not there. "He's going into cardiac arrest!" She then began doing CPR on the man as a paid firefighter hastily ripped the man's shirt open. He then got out 2 defibrillator paddles and rubbed gel on them.

Weiss stopped doing CPR as the paid guy said, "Clear!" He then shocked the man. Weiss then began doing compressions again before the man was shocked once again.

For 20 cycles, the man was compressed and shocked. Finally, after the last one, they gave up. Weiss said, "God damn it, we lost him."

Ruby then said, "But... What if you... No... I need a moment..." Ruby then sat down on the floor.

Weiss walked over to her and said, "C'mon, get up, Ruby. We can't save everyone." She then helped Ruby off the floor as the paid firefighter zipped the man's body up in a bag. By now, 2 police officers had arrived to document the death.

At 6:18, Ambulance 201 returned to quarters. Ruby was still shaken up by the fact that a man had just died in front of her and they could have saved him. Weiss said to her as they walked away from the ambulance, "Listen, Ruby, it's fine. You've seen worse. You saw that bad fire at the faunus place, right? You can't get so down on yourself like this."

"I'm sorry," Ruby replied. "I'm just new to all this. I mean, I've been in combat, but only against Grimm."

"Don't worry. You'll get used to this one day, Ruby. C'mon, let's go play some pool in the rec room."

Ruby smiled. "I'm totally up for that." She then jokingly elbowed Weiss. "I'll kick your ass, Schnee."

Weiss replied, "More like I'll kick your's." The 2 of them then laughed.

Meanwhile, Yang, Blake, and 2 other volunteers also doing bunk-in duty were cleaning Truck 201 when George walked into the bay. A volunteer went up to him and said, "Hello there. What's your name?"

"George Owenfield," he replied. "Goodwill Engine 6." He then showed him his pager.

Yang walked over and gave George a tight hug. "Awww, you came to visit me, Georgie."

George hugged back and said, "That I did, Yang." The 2 then separated. "So, what's going on over here?"

"Just doing a 6-hour with my friends from 4:45 to 10:45. How about you?"

"I came by to see your beautiful self, that's all." Yang giggled in response. "So, any calls?"

"My sis and Weiss went to a medical with the paid guys. Me, Blake, and Ren stayed here. You know, changing subjects, we don't have much longer before we get our Basic Firefighter-CFR certs. I'll finally be able to do interior work. I can't wait."

"Me neither, Yang. So, wanna do something Friday night?"

"Oh... I can't... Me, the girls, and Ren are all gonna be attending a briefing for an upcoming hunting mission."

"Oh. Okay then. Well, there's always another time, my love."

Yang jokingly said, "You're too kind." The 2 then kissed.

Ren looked at them, smiled, and said, "Get a room, you 2." After they both looked at him, he said, "Nah, just kidding." They all then laughed.

Meanwhile, Blake was texting Sun, who would also join in on the upcoming hunting mission with several Vacuouan Hunters' Corps units. "u got any details Sun?"

"theyre fuzzy," Sun texted back. "but I heard the mission is going 2 b the 1st part of a larger operation"

"what larger op?"

"an op to extend the city's borders and build a 2nd wall 3 miles out from the 1st 1"

Blake thought to herself, "What the hell? That sounds impossible. They'd have to napalm the forests to do... Oh... Wait... If they expand the walls that far, they'll incorporate all of Mountain Glenn. August 8 is the anniversary of the destruction of Mountain Glenn. I see what they're trying to do..."