Strangers I Know (ch 2)

EARLY RELEASE FOR PATRONS - NOW 2 DAYS IN ADVANCE! THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH!

This chapter introduces Blake and is told from her point of view.

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

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						Chapter 2. By The Fireplace

The Village of Vale wasn't a bad place to live in, but it was a bit too boisterous for her taste.

Not to say that activeness was a bad thing – far from it – Blake herself was a fairly active person. She'd just never liked all the noise, the occasional fights or robberies, the insistent barking of the damn dogs...

Which was why she liked living out in the woods where she was now.

The worst she'd get was the occasional howl of a wolf, but that was once a year if at all. The wild dogs were rarely vicious, and kept to the mountains with the Grimm, typically leaving the villagers alone. They were more interested in maintaining their territories against other animals far from human or Faunus civilization.

Aside from the occasional inconvenience here and there – a leak in the roof, a squirrel in the attic, a lack of firewood now and again – Blake loved where she lived.

Winters were tough sometimes, but with experience, she'd learned simply to take them easy. She'd build up her stock and supplies over the rest of the year so that during the winter she rarely even needed to step foot outside, save the necessary trips into the village to get to market.

But if there was anything Blake had learned from the world in her life of seclusion in her banal little cabin, it was to obey nature and take things easy every once in a while.

Especially when there was a raging snowstorm outside her windows.

Blake had sensed the blizzard coming that morning, and so had prepared her fireplace in advance. She'd gotten her warmest, thickest blankets out of the closet, made a bit of hot soup, and curled up onto the couch to enjoy herself.

The small radio across the room had only given her static, so she'd turned it off to read instead.

Presently, the soft sound of padding paws across the wooden floor had her Faunus ears flicking.

She looked up to find the black cat she'd stumbled upon as a stray in Vale and taken in with her several years ago. He jumped up onto the window sill and curled his tail over his paws.

Blake chuckled to herself. "I don't think there's much to see out there, Schwarz. It's gonna be all white till tomorrow morning."

Blake brought her bowl to her lips and finished off the last of her soup before placing it back down onto the small table beside the couch.

She marked her page in her book and stood, keeping one of the blankets over her shoulders as she stepped into her slippers. Shuffling into the kitchen, Blake turned on the stove and filled a pan of water from the sink, letting it start to heat up.

She went to the cupboard she specifically kept for her teas, taking a moment to consider her options, eyes scanning the various little tins before she decided on Earl Grey. She got everything ready and returned to her living area as she waited for the water to start heating up.

But just before she sat back down on the couch, she heard a growl from the window. Looking up, she saw the fur along Schwarz's spine had stood up, his tail flicking and ears back in agitation.

"It's alright," Blake said to him. "Probably just some lost animal. Though I can't say I can think of an animal dumb enough to go wandering around in this kind of weather..."

Still, it was good to avoid bears, and there was always the slight risk of a straying Grimm, in which case Blake would need to take action with her wood ax if necessary.

To be safe, she walked cautiously over to the cat and peered over his head.

She couldn't see much else other than grey, only very few tree trunks standing out in contrast if they hadn't been covered in snow yet. She scanned the woods as best she could, but didn't find any animals moving about.

"You're seeing things, old man," she chuckled, patting the cat's head. But he only growled again, and Blake's own ears went flat. "What's gotten into you? Didn't find any mice last night or something? So grouchy..."

She peered over his head again, trying to follow his line of sight.

It was hardly noticeable, and even with her enhanced Faunus vision, Blake had managed to miss it the first time. But there was definitely something in the snow that hadn't been there an hour ago.

When she focused her vision, she could make out the general shape and-

"Oh my god-"

Blake gasped, all comprehensive thought flying from her mind as she instantly dropped her blanket and rushed to her closet. The sudden rush of motion startled the cat and sent him running behind the couch to hide.

Blake stuffed her feet inside her snow boots and threw on her coat, fingers fumbling as she got to as many of the buttons as she could. She shoved a glove onto each hand before pulling a hat over her ears and rushing to the door. She closed it behind her to keep in whatever warmth possible and instantly ran out into the snow.

It wasn't easy. The stuff was up past her boots, and even as she tried to run, each step dragged her down like quicksand.

The comfortable warmth she'd been snugly wrapped in all day was painfully absent now, replaced by a frigid chill that almost made her scream, but she bit it back.

She hurried as much as she could, frantically yanking her boots out of the snow repeatedly only to plunge them back in, struggling until the other person was only a few feet away from her.

Blake came to a halt and dropped to her knees, brushing the top layer of snow off to reveal their form.

It was a young girl, her coat the color of the snow, as was her hair. She was painfully still and no breath lifted from her lips. She resembled a cygnet that had been lost to the elements, pure and forlorn.

And her skin...

There was no warmth in it at all.

Her cheeks were stark and livid, her lips blue and eyes closed. Blake felt her heart break when she noticed the crystalized tears that had formed on her cheeks.

"Oh, god..." she whispered.

Blake had heard the unsettling stories of how people would go missing during the winter and not be found again until spring. But from what she knew, there hadn't been a death in Vale from the winter weather in two years now. The people were taking better caution, it seemed. Perhaps this girl was merely an audacious traveler?

But when Blake glanced down at the girl's frozen hands, she got her answer.

She recognized those plants, the ones that sold for a fair price on the market due to the healing juices within. Desperation would drive humans and Faunus alike to do unreasonably foolish things.

Blake knew this all too well.

So she couldn't blame the poor girl, whomever she was.

Blake knew she'd need to make the journey to town once the storm cleared up so she could lead the villagers to the body so it may be identified, or perhaps carry the girl there herself so someone could recognize her.

But while keeping a dead girl in her cabin wasn't exactly Blake's ideal option, she just couldn't bring herself to leave the girl out here. She'd be dug up and devoured by coyotes and foxes, and Blake felt queasy just thinking about it.

She didn't belong to any particular religion, but she offered a brief prayer as she scooped the ashen girl into her arms. There wasn't much weight to her at all, and Blake could tell that most of what she did feel was from the heavy clothing the girl adorned.

Blake headed back to the cabin, already feeling her own cheeks beginning to frost over in the brutal wind.

Judging by the clothes the girl wore – the sturdy quality and the complex embroidery – she must've been from a wealthy family, or one that was at least moderately well-off.

/Too bad it didn't do her much good in the end.../

She reached the door and kicked it in, stepping inside and then slamming it shut behind her before shaking herself off.

The warmth from the fire reached her instantly and Blake relished the sensation as she got down on one knee and removed her hat. The gloves were next, and she kept the girl in her lap for a moment, propping her up.

Blake bit her lip; this girl was like an angel, certainly beautiful, almost ethereal, but one who'd had her wings shredded in the storm and - unable to lift herself - had succumbed to her cruel fate far too prematurely.

Blake removed her gloves, curling and uncurling her fingers a few times to get the feeling back in them, though there was still a chill wafting off of the other girl on her knee.

It was more of an afterthought than anything when Blake pressed her fingers to the side of the girl's neck - just a hopeless whim.

She gasped in disbelief when she felt a flutter - impossibly faint, almost undetectable - but there was something.

She pulled her hand away to make sure she wasn't simply feeling her own pulse and her mind was playing tricks.

Blake quickly undid the buttons of the girl's coat and opened the front, dipping her head down to press one of her Faunus ears over her sweater. She needed to close her eyes and focus for a few minutes, but it was there - a dull, slow, weak thump that barely had any rhythm to it.

But there was /something/.

Blake shot up instantly.

"Oh my god, oh my god-"

She stood with the girl in her arms and rushed to the couch, kicking it closer to the fire, sending the cat streaking for a new place to hide. Blake laid the girl down there and knelt on the floor, shedding her own coat so she could move easier.

She worked quickly, starting with the scarf around the girl's hands, needing to use a good deal of force to break the ice that had formed there.

Blake managed to remove the frozen fabric and next pried the brittle plants from the girl's fingers, putting them aside on the floor.

She then slid the girl out of her snow-covered coat and dropped it to the floor, shards of ice and clumps of snow sprinkling onto the wooden floorboards.

Blake stood and rushed to her closet, pulling out some of her clothes and another blanket before hurrying back to the couch.

"Stay with me..." she pleaded, dropping back to her knees and pressing her head onto the girl's chest once more. Perhaps it was Blake's own franticness, but it seemed harder to decipher a pulse from her this time. And it hadn't exactly been easy the first time.

She was shaking as she carefully slipped the girl out of her sweater, the fabrics of which had also crystalized in most places. She wore a slip underneath, and Blake left that, not too keen on undressing a stranger, and one who was probably younger than herself at that.

Though getting a better look at her face now, her cheekbones and collar, Blake believed this girl was actually around her own age.

The Faunus girl pulled the sweater she'd taken from the closet over the girl's head, rolling the sleeves down to each of her wrists. She removed the girl's boots and placed them aside, then offered a silent apology as she slipped the pants off her hips, though the white slip she wore went down to her thighs.

Blake eased a warm pair of her own pants onto the girl's legs, noticing just how loose they were on her. She was very slim, and Blake had to wonder how such a frail thing had even made it five steps outside her home in this storm, let alone to the heart of this forest.

Again, Blake put an ear to her chest, but only to find not much had changed. The risk of frostbite had dwindled a bit, but there was something else wrong that Blake couldn't figure out.

There was air passing through the girl's lungs, but each intake was feeble, each exhale thin, and Blake started to fear her lungs had frozen over. The girl's health was still deteriorating gradually and silently, and Blake was fighting time itself.

She sat up and covered the girl with the blanket before dashing off to the kitchen. The pot of water she had left boiling for tea was steaming and bubbling by now, and Blake killed the flame on the stove and grabbed the handle along with three small towels before walking quickly back to the main room.

She placed the pot on the floor and dipped one of the towels into it, wincing at the searing heat as she wrung it out. It was hot, but that was exactly what this girl needed right now.

Blake reached up and dabbed the warm towel over the girl's face, over her stiff, frozen bangs. It melted away some of the sheen of white that had coated her skin, giving the faintest bit of pallor back to the girl.

Blake dipped the towel again and wrung it out, moving it next to the girl's cheeks, the sides of her neck and to her ears. She used one of the dry towels to dry off the residual water, working gradually until the chill on the girl's skin was replaced by a soft, subtle warmth.

Blake continued for several minutes, wrapping each of the girl's red hands in the hot towel and drying them several times, until she couldn't feel a chill on them anymore. She wetted the length of the girl's stiff silver hair as well, drying it until it was soft to the touch.

After that, Blake went back to the girl's face, dabbing her cheeks, forehead, lips, and over her eyelids until the crystalized tear trails melted.

She went down the girl's neck again and southbound to her collar. Blake made sure the towel was hot as she pressed over the girl's chest, letting the heat seep into her skin, hopefully enough to have an effect on her straining heart.

"Come on," Blake muttered. "Stay with me..."

She kept going, all but bathing the girl in hot water and drying her off again and again.

She worked assiduously until the water in the pot had lost its warmth, and Blake stood briefly to bring it back to the kitchen. She re-lit the stove again, waiting for the water to boil once more.

Then, she went back to the couch and sighed heavily as she sat down on the floor, once more leaning over the girl to listen to her pulse. Blake's stomach twisted when she found it hadn't improved, and she bit her lip in frustration.

"Why...?" she mumbled, baffled. "What's wrong...?"

It was something beyond the cold, something Blake hadn't noticed yet. A terminal illness? Some malignant disease? Perhaps this girl was sick and simply unable to recover from whatever ailed her, despite the frostbite having been fended off.

If she'd been weakened enough already, Blake's efforts might have all been for naught.

And yet, something told her that if this girl was going to die, Blake would have lost her already.

No, this girl was still fighting, still clinging to life. There was something that could save her still – Blake just couldn't think of what that could've been.

Blake's efforts may have simply been delaying the inevitable, but it at least gave her a bit more time to think, to think what else she could do...

She reached out to press the back of her hand to the girl's forehead, then to her chest before holding one of her hands. Her skin was warm and dry now, so Blake knew it was definitely an internal issue.

/Whatever it is, her aura should be able to fix it, even if she's not conscious.../

And then it occurred to her that that was her answer.

Something must have happened to this girl that demanded the excess use of her aura, rendering her defenseless without it now.

Blake quickly closed her eyes and sucked in a breath, letting it out on a long exhale as she unlocked her own aura. She'd never shared it before - she'd never had to - but she figured it was more than worth a shot now.

She lifted herself up onto her knees and slipped one hand beneath the girl's head, resting the other against the center of her chest. Blake slowed her breathing and activated her aura, picturing the blue flow of it trickling to her fingertips, spreading through the other girl's body.

Her already-heightened Faunus senses became even more perceptive when she was using her aura, and Blake concentrated on seeking out the girl's life energy.

It was difficult, and she felt liked she was drowning in a dark place - she imagined this was what this girl was experiencing right now. She felt like she couldn't even breathe...

Blake searched for several moments, forcing herself not to pull away, trying to ignore the stifling feeling and find a bit of light that would lead her to where she needed to go.

But for a long while, it was fruitless. Blake was starting to admit defeat, that she'd been too late and this girl was already on her way out.

But then, she felt a small tug - minuscule at best - pulling her toward the source of the weakened energy.

There was a faint pulse, a flickering flame that had almost gone out, but not quite.

Blake focused on that, aiming to augment it, directing her own aura toward it. She gave just enough of her own energy to kindle that flame until it could start moving on its own again.

Blake kept channeling her aura for a few seconds longer just to be safe before she opened her eyes and cut the flow.

Again, she dipped her head to listen, and was finally rewarded.

The girl's heartbeat was stronger now, not by much, but it was undoubtedly livelier than it had been previously. The pace had increased a bit as well, and her breathing seemed a bit deeper.

Blake sat back and let out a long sigh.

"Thank god..."

But she knew she couldn't just leave the girl to heal on her own now. Blake would need to be vigilant and keep checking on her every once in a while.

For now though, she wrapped the girl in every blanket the cabin had except one, which Blake kept for herself. She tucked the girl in before seeking out Schwarz, scooping him up and sitting him down on the girl's stomach.

"Here, make yourself useful and keep her warm."

The cat sniffed around for a minute before he started to knead the blankets and eventually curled up on top of their guest.

Blake went back to the kitchen, pouring half of the pot of water into another pot, keeping one for the girl and one for tea. She prepared her Earl Grey at long last before turning off the stove, bringing her mug and the pot of hot water back into the living room with her.

She placed her mug onto the nearby table and the pot onto the floor before throwing another log onto the fire, then returning to her spot beside the couch.

Blake sipped at her tea in between the process of dipping a towel into the water and keeping the girl warm, going back over her face, ears, and neck. She pulled the girl's hands out from under the covers and warmed them each again, glad to see some of the redness had faded before tucking them back beneath the blankets.

The girl's once-pale cheeks had regained a bit of florid color, a somewhat healthier pallor than what had been there an hour ago.

Blake was beginning to feel the aftereffects of everything now - running out into the blizzard in a frenzy to carry this girl inside and take care of her for several hectic hours.

She didn't regret any of it if the result was saving the girl's life, but Blake was nothing short of exhausted now.

And yet she was nervous about sleeping, nervous to leave this girl alone for a second when it wouldn't take much for her to succumb to her own fragility.

Blake cast a glance across the room, next to the closet to where there was a bit of an overhang in the wall, beneath which was her mattress and pillow, bare now that all the blankets were on the couch.

Her bed was too far away, and Blake didn't like the thought of leaving the girl alone.

She got to her feet and went to her bed only to retrieve her pillow and bring it back beside the fire. She cleaned up her empty mug and the damp towels, bringing everything back into the kitchen and placing things in the sink.

Blake slipped into her small storage room where she kept fruits from the autumn harvest and even some meat preserved for as long as possible. She'd purchased her meat in the village and harvested the fruit and grain on her own, though some of it would be going stale before long, and she'd need to replenish stock after the blizzard.

She took a pear and bit into it, finishing it within minutes before she reentered the kitchen, turning on the faucet to run her hands under some warm water for a few seconds before drying them off.

At last, she returned to the main room and sat down on her pillow beside the couch, sliding the pot of water to sit near the fireplace to keep it warm, in case she found the other girl needed it at some point during the night.

By now, it was already dark outside, but the wind was still howling, and Blake knew it would continue until morning.

She knelt in her spot beside the couch, shifting on her pillow until she was comfortable, huddled in her blanket and unable to tear her eyes away from the slender form of the girl before her. She didn't even know her name or her story, and yet Blake had heedlessly rushed out to retrieve this girl and had slaved away for hours to save her life without a second thought.

And she started to question why.

She hardly believed it was because she was inherently a good person – too many things proved otherwise.

And yet, the thought of a ransom or asking for money from the girl's family had never crossed her mind until now, though she knew she'd never demand such a thing. Blake wasn't fond of avarice in any form.

Perhaps it had merely been due to her own impulsive nature, but she also discarded that option; this hadn't felt like an innate emotion.

She considered pity, and it was possible that had been a part of it.

But in the end, she concluded something else entirely.

Blake had never had a visitor before. No other person – human or Faunus – had ever stepped inside this cabin.

Technically neither had this girl – Blake had carried her – but still.

Perhaps she just enjoyed the thought of taking care of someone else, feeling the warmth of another person, hearing another voice...

Albeit, she'd gotten only the former of those so far, but she could imagine what the other two would be like if this girl ever woke.

For now, the girl was alive, and in Blake's care. She wasn't sure how long it would last, but for at least tonight, Blake had a companion.

Carefully, she folded one arm onto the couch to act as her makeshift pillow, draping her other arm across the girl's stomach. She rested her head in place on the girl's chest, both to share her own body heat and to ensure she was still breathing.

Blake could hear that steady heartbeat that was familiar to her now, slow but persistent.

Schwarz was purring softly – something he almost never did – and Blake assumed he liked their new addition to the couch as well.

Blake closed her eyes, enveloped by the warmth of the fire and her blankets, as well as the very feeble warmth of this girl before her.

That heartbeat was her lullaby as she fell asleep, and she prayed it would still be there when she woke.

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A/N: Thanks for reading! See you next week!