Chapter 2

Bumblebee's Great Grandmother

Beacon Academy's airship hangar was crowded even at the dullest of times, but today was the busiest Blake or Weiss had ever seen the transit as they watched bullheads coming and going from afar. Their excitable leader often came just to spectate as she seemed to appreciate the thin line between chaos and order, but mostly she wished to greet the registered huntsmen who used the terminal as a means of travel across the kingdoms just as students did when assigned on school missions.

Today however the huntsmen were greatly outnumbered by the jade armored soldiers of Vale who were making rare appearances compared to their ivory counterparts of Atlas. Interspersed among them were soon to be graduating fourth year students earning their final credits while gaining invaluable experience, but occasionally a weary man or woman wearing tattered clothes with black stains would step onto the tarmac as if in a daze after days or perhaps even weeks of defending the Kingdom of Vale from the ceaseless hordes of Grimm.

Blake and Weiss having spent just three days protecting the world from nightmares with only a night of sleep in between knew what the huntsmen were walking away from, and understood the heavy burdens they would carry for the rest of their lives.

'Thank you', the girls would say in respect and gratitude of their elders who despite their hardened appearances couldn't have been much older, and they made sure to bow their heads to those with speckles of silver in their hair, a rare marvel in a line of work where surviving to your second tour of duty made you one of the fortunate elite.

A few of the veterans returned their courteous nods as they could sense kinship in their auras, but there was always sorrow in the seasoned warriors' eyes seeing the young huntresses in-training and knowing what would become of them in just a few short years.

The freshmen couldn't help but see themselves walking among them someday, and while seeds of doubt sowed long ago played in their minds, they didn't take root as their huntress pride was too great and only growing by the day, perhaps as a result of their partners' influences.

However, as the sun came closer to setting and their arrival and departures were becoming less frequent, the chilled air of impatience began to build as another group of airships landed without bearing the emblem of Atlas.

"What's taking them so long!?" Weiss huffed, stomping her foot. "If I'd known those imbeciles would be taking their time, I wouldn't have left the dog to watch my crippled partner while I have my eardrums ruptured!"

In the back of her mind Blake wondered if the hellhound would sense his isolated prey's weakness and decide to finish her off for good. It was only a matter of time...

"Calm down," she appeased with hands resting atop her head. "General Ironwood's in charge of the investigation so they're probably reporting back to Atlas' airfield first."

Weiss continued muttering to herself, this time about her blistered and swollen toes only to be interrupted by the bullheads departing. As they flew overhead the slender body beside her tensed up, causing the girl in priceless heels to turn. Cold eyes glancing up softened seeing Blake's grimace as she removed her hands making it look as though she'd simply been tightening her bow.

"Sorry, I wasn't thinking," she apologized. "You should go back to the dorm and look after Ruby. I don't mind waiting by myself."

Blake shook her head. "Most of the airships are clearing out and I've gotten used to it. Besides, Yang should be here soon along with the soldiers and our stuff."

Weiss bit her lip thoughtfully. "So it's a race between the world's worst designated driver and the world's most incompetent military," she mused. "A blue lien on the girl who will breathing fire for the next twenty-four hours."

A grin tugged at Blake's lips as she was savoring the girl's newfound attitude towards her kingdom's military. Being a faunus it was practically her birthright to resent and distrust the northern kingdom, especially its soldiers for the atrocities they had once committed against her kind. But the disgust she had felt her entire life didn't seem to compare to that of the Schnee's, and she couldn't help but relish the irony.

Her bow twitched before she could finish reaching for her wallet. "Looks like you would've won that bet."

*rrrrrrmmmmvvvvv*

Weiss let out a long sigh hearing the familiar engine. "Speak of the fire breathing dragon herself..."

The pair turned toward the tunnel that led to the student garage just as a black and yellow motorcycle emerged flashing its lights before coming to a halt. The rider wearing a matching jacket and helmet removed the headgear revealing a blonde mane and a lopsided grin.

"Nice helmet hair," Weiss remarked as they approached.

"Thanks!" Yang yelled to their faces as she hopped off her bike with an uncoordinated bounce. "Anything exciting happen while I was out?!"

Although the her voice was as warm and cheerful as ever, her teammates could sense the worry behind her lilac eyes and the anxiety in her cloudy aura, and while her slightly slurred speech revealed what she'd been drowning them out with all day, the faunus could practically hear the buzz between her partner's ears.

"Ruby's asleep and drooling on Weiss' pillow," Blake replied, causing Yang to snort.

"Good thing I taught the princess how to do laundry or she'd still be setting everything on fire!"

"That's still in the realm of possibility," Weiss remarked dryly. "And you don't have to yell."

"At least it gives us an excuse to go shopping on the rich side of town!" Yang began rubbing her hands together in excitement as Weiss always bought extravagant lunches, and spending absurd amounts of money on her friends came just as naturally as it did for herself.

Weiss closed her eyes and massaged her temples. "This time, could you please refrain from asking customer service if the sheets and pillowcases match?"

Yang's eyes twinkled having a witty retort, but all that came out was a loud hiccup which she suppressed along with her giggles behind a sheepish smile.

"How were the drinks?" Blake asked with an awkward and almost embarrassed expression.

"Did you threaten the cops again when they pulled you over?"

Although Ruby never said a word about her sister's unruly habits, her teammates couldn't help find but find them somewhat unsettling, especially when the sun hadn't yet gone down and when her sister had just limped out of the hospital and was now lying unconscious back in the room.

The party-girl's grin stretched across her face and gave the pair a wink. "The drinks were fine, the guys were finer, and I've never been pulled over in my life thank you."

"But you have threatened them before."

Yang held up her hands unashamed. "Like every good Signalite I'm a little fuzzy on the details of graduation." She exhaled deeply as if reliving the weekend she was still piecing together with help from Ruby, news reports, and a scroll full of amusing if not incriminating photos.

"You two are going to love staying with us once the school year is over," Yang gushed. "Trust me, you haven't lived until you've survived your first spring break on Patch. Just ask Rubes, she's already almost over the trauma."

She was so incredibly grateful that she'd forced her baby sister to experience them both months prior to being accepted into Beacon. Spring break and graduation were the two most important events for Signalites, and taught more practical survival skills than teachers or classrooms ever could. If one could remember such invaluable lessons that is...

But as the academy's unofficial motto stated, 'Never let school interfere with education'.

Weiss meanwhile shuddered recalling her partner's ceaseless begging and her own moment of weakness, or possibly madness, when she agreedto come visit with them. Despite herself however, she had a rather morbid curiosity about the origin of the sisters' chaotic lives back at Signal which also doubled as their home. From its well earned reputation, Weiss believed there was a high probability of being either committed or incarcerated, but she much preferred prison to the lonely mansion in Atlas, which besides the gourmet food wouldn't be all that different.

While the heiress made peace with the fact she'd never return the same, Blake's nostrils flared as she caught her partner's scent.

'Nightclub,' her unsurprised nose interpreted, but her brow began to rise on closer inspection.

Yang was a dedicated mouth breather being especially accomplished and devout in her sleep, but even the spearmint gum and the perfume that continually fooled her father wouldn't have affected the faunus' keen sense of smell. However, while Blake could pick out traces of her partner's drinks, there was nowhere near enough to justify the swaying back and forth of the self-proclaimed 'world's leading authority on strawberry sunrises'.

She narrowed her perceptive eyes at her as another group of bullheads departed carrying dozens more students when she felt the temperature suddenly drop. She and her partner turned to Weiss holding her arms as if she were cold.

"How was the city?" she asked, lowering her gaze from the familiar faces flying above.

It was the question they'd been avoiding but knew had to be addressed. Yang's grin faltered for the first time and Blake noted the sudden change in her partner's stance as well as speech.

"Just like how we left it," she admitted. "The huntsmen and military are telling the civilians to stay inside until they're sure the entire city is secure, but..."

Yang shrugged and chuckled darkly. "It's still Vale. Every boutique, cafe, and club I passed had lines out the door, and all the dust shops are sold out of guns, ammo, and crystals." She glanced at the heiress with a wry smile. "With prices skyrocketing, the SDC's profits should be up though."

Weiss hid her feelings behind a weathered mask and Yang's semblance instinctively flared, just as her partner anticipated.

"But the Atlesians living on the north side of town are leading the cleanup," she added apologetically. "And I saw plenty of people passing out food and water with snowflake labels."

The pale girl nodded pleased to hear some good coming from her kingdom and company.

"They probably just didn't like looking at the mess from their untouched paradise," Blake said half-jokingly.

'But at least their underpaid faunus servants get to clean up someone else's mess for a change,' she sarcastically kept to herself.

"I did see a hundred year old woman with a snooty accent complaining about the sixty degree heatwave while trying to sweep away what was left of a building," Yang remarked.

Weiss didn't seem surprised or even mildly upset by their comments as she knew better than anyone they weren't exaggerating. As her roommates had quickly discovered, the people of Atlas were notorious for their near obsession with order and cleanliness, and the sisters proudly undermined the heiress' unnatural quirk every chance they had.

*twitch*

"Hey!" Yang cried, standing on her toes suddenly full of life again. "We're waiting for white bullheads right?!"

Blake noted her change in behavior once again before slowly nodding.

"Well they're here!"

The girls turned around just as a pair of Atlesian airships entered the hanger beginning their descent to the landing pads.

Weiss, forgetting about her heels and complaining about them just minutes prior, sprinted toward the bullheads while Yang followed along whistling a tune she couldn't seem to remember.

"This had better be good," she muttered under her breath. "I had just started to have fun..."

*fffffwwwtt*

A hand grabbing her sleeve caused the blonde to spin around with her lips still pursed.

Blake's unreadable eyes just a foot away blinked. "At the bar with 'fine drinks and finer guys' you mean?"

Yang closed her mouth being reminded of her partner's cat-like hearing and acute sense of smell. Neither girl said a word as they stared through each other's blank faces into their auras which could tell no lies. A fever broke out beneath Blake's fingers as she watched the girl's aura beginning to darken along with her eyes. Hearing shrill cries of joy, Yang turned away forcing her to either let go or be dragged along.

"It's here!" Weiss exclaimed unable to contain her excitement. "It's finally here!"

"What's here?" they asked, looking at the normally self-composed heiress as though she'd grown a second head.

She took several deep breaths before pointing a finger that was about as steady as Yang had been. "That!"

Hearing the sound of metal scraping the tarmac they glanced up.

"You've got to be kidding me..." The partners' mouths hung open as their heads tilted to the side.

The team's color coated red, white, black, and yellow backpacks were being carried by a group of soldiers while a second larger yellow pack that towered over the rest was being dragged by several men. Behind them however, half a dozen others were hauling upright four long rusted metal poles with chains attached at the top that descended to wooden seats that looked much too painful to sit on.

"A swing set..." Blake deadpanned.

Weiss gleefully bounced up and down as if she were her partner unable to stand still.

Yang shook her head but found herself amused. "You had the military go to the lost city just so you didn't have to buy yourself a swing set. Cheap much?"

"Humph! With the map I gave them it was on their way to the tunnels," Weiss huffed, regaining her dignity.

She pointed at the SDC's symbols on the airships that were more pronounced and numerous than that of her kingdom's own. "In case either of you have forgotten I'm a Schnee, and after the Deathstalker incident I have no shame or regrets using Atlas' military as my personal servants and treating them just like the rest of my family does. What about you Blake?"

"Nope," she agreed without hesitation as she massaged the top of her head.

"Alright then it's settled," Weiss brought her hands together as she saw the soldiers struggling. "Oh boys," she sang angelically.

The men looked up and immediately stood at attention with salutes.

"Ma'am!"

"You may carry my swing set to the courtyard facing the southeastern side of the student dorm. As for the backpacks and vehicle..." She glanced at Yang with a grin so minuscule only her friends would've known it was there hiding in the cold. "Take them to team RWBY's storage unit in the student garage. We'll sort them out there."

The soldiers nodded and followed her orders carrying the swing set toward the open doors of the hanger while the rest headed into the tunnel.

Her teammates meanwhile glanced down with eyebrows raised.

"Vehicle?" they asked.

Weiss nodded nonchalantly. "Bumblebee's great grandmother to be more precise."

The girls had been so focused on their packs and the start of Beacon's new playground that they hadn't noticed the second bullhead and what was being unloaded. Blake's entire world lit up as if the sun was standing beside her and quickly shielded her eyes before nudging the blonde, who much like her younger sister with Weiss' pillow was drooling.

"Is that-" Yang choked.

"Yep," Weiss popped the 'p' clearly pleased with herself to have mimicked her partner. "The prehistoric motorcycle you haven't shut up about since the mission. I don't know what you expect to do with the rusted piece of junk, but consider it an early birthday present."

*sniffle*

She handed the tearful girl a handkerchief which she used to loudly blow her nose before handing it back.

"Eeww..."

Before the heiress' face had time to turn green with disgust, she felt her heels leave the ground and the sensation as if she were flying.

"Yang!" she screamed as she was being swung around by her arms. "Put me down at this instant! "PLEASE!"

Weiss pulled a hand free and covered her mouth as her cheeks puffed out and her pale face changed color. "I think I'm gonna-"

Blake ducked before she could be decapitated by her wiry legs and watched in awe as the girl was sent spinning into the air like a frisbee.

"That's a new record," she remarked as the screaming girl kissed the top of the hanger.

Hearing the sound of metal scraping, Blake turned to see the soldiers pushing the motorcycle frame that had long since lost its color to rust onto a small cart causing the temperature to rise.

"STOP!" Yang cried. "You're hurting her!"

Running faster than her sister ever possibly could on a three day sugar binge, she took off and grabbed the sides of the vehicle. The soldiers' mouths fell open as the heavy machine was lifted over the girl's head while she rubbed its rusted underbelly as if it were a newfound puppy.

Blake shook her head in awe of the awesome strength of her partner that she was certain she'd never get used to, but a high-pitched wail from above caused her ears to pin back.

*gulp*

She held up her arms and braced herself for the head-on collision, and the next thing she knew snowflakes were spinning around her head while someone groaned atop of her and shadows danced about.

"No good deed ever goes unpunished," the dizzy heiress slurred.

"You can say that again," Blake slurred back.

"Hey!" a large shadow with a mane called. "Get off each other and help me move Bumblebee to the garage, then we'll go see Ruby."

The pair untangled themselves and after staring daggers into her, realization crossed their eyes. Yang was constantly shifting the motorcycle's position on her shoulders while keeping it steady with her free hand. Beads of sweat were beginning to roll down her tense face, and her chest rose and fell rapidly while the bright aura around her began to dim.

"Are you alright, Yang?" her partner asked, eyeing the shaking arms and legs.

"Fine," she growled, staggering back toward the tunnel.

The girls gave each other knowing glances but quickly caught the blonde who was taking long strides, which forced the much shorter Weiss to walk twice as fast.

"Why don't you let the soldiers carry it," she urged. "Blake and I were going to grab Ruby some dessert but you can come with us."

Yang kicked up Bumblebee's seat as she walked past revealing a large box.

"Already got it covered." She grimaced as she switched shoulders. "I think about four dozen cookies outta cheer her up."

'Which will cheer us all up...'

With a sly grin spreading across her face, Blake pushed the seat back down and picked up the helmet. She glanced up at her twitching bow then back down at the helmet before shaking her head and setting it atop Weiss'.

Lifting the visor revealed her smiling eyes as she adjusted the protective headgear which was much too large for her, and since she was far too light and dainty to handle Bumblebee safely, she let Blake take a seat.

"Wanna ride, Weiss?"

The helmet shook side to side. "No thanks," came a muffled voice. "I still have a migraine from last time when I lost a rather exquisite lunch."

"Most expensive puke ever," Yang remarked with clenched teeth as she led the way.

Weiss glanced down at her swollen and blistered feet that protested in her heels before holding her empty stomach.

"But since I can't feel my head and I already lost my lunch..."

*rrrrrrmmmmvvvvv*

(A/N: Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. I cannot express my gratitude enough for the kindness you've shown me with Chapter 1 of "The Patchwork Prodigy" and the finale of "The Petals Scatter Now", or for the entire story for that matter. You all have been so very kind to me since the very beginning and I'm sorry I haven't always thanked you personally, especially when you've been such a blessing to me. Thank you everyone who has ever given me a review, a PM, a shout-out, or a simply hello, and thank you for reading. All credit goes to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ who has made this story possible and has blessed me with all of you. God bless)