Pet Quartet (ch9)

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

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													Chapter 9. A Big Decision

One week had passed since their collective visit to the vet.

At first, Ruby, Blake, and Yang had tried not to make a big fuss in asking Weiss about her wing. But by the second afternoon, they were finding it difficult to keep quiet – some more than others.

Ruby kept fidgeting at mealtimes as she sat beside Weiss, gobbling up her crackers and cookies as Weiss daintily ate her seeds and fruit. Blake would see the mouse swishing her tail and looking as though she were going to inquire, but she somehow kept managing to hold herself back.

Weiss hadn't said anything about it herself either, which made the rest of them all the more anxious.

Yang was still extremely careful with grooming the bird, taking care not to touch her injured wing at all after it had been tended to by the vet's needles. Weiss still shuddered at the memory of those awful tools. She'd been given something to numb the pain at the time, but the after-soreness was still there.

It was on the third morning when the little bird woke from her spot on Blake's back. She was the first one up this morning, and went about her usual routine of hopping off the cat, then began stretching. She stretched out her right foot, then her left, her right wing, then...

As she cautiously moved her left wing, she closed her eyes, waiting for the little pang of pain that always came along with it.

But this morning, there was nothing of the sort. Nothing at all.

She was almost willing to believe it was a dream.

Weiss extended her left wing, farther and farther, past the point which it had been able to reach for the past several weeks. She was astounded to see it reach out to its full length, all four inches. Her beak dropped open, and Weiss quickly recoiled her wing. Slowly, she extended it again, expecting pain, assuming the first time had been a fluke.

But again, there was no pain at all.

In her excitement, she let out a small peep of joy.

The sound had Blake flicking an ear, and the cat opened her eyes and parted her jaws in a big yawn. Ruby rolled sleepily off of Blake's paws and laid on the floor to wake herself up while the cat stretched. Yang was roused as well, and before long, the three of them were on their paws.

Blake was the first to come to her senses and realize that Weiss was a short distance away from the rest of them. Remembering the chirp she'd heard, Blake's ears immediately fell flat.

"Weiss!" she gasped. "Are you okay? Did something happen?" Startled, Blake hurried over to her, Ruby and Yang hot on her heels. They all paused about a foot away from the bird, anxiously awaiting her response.

"Is it your wing?" Ruby fretted.

"Should we wake the humans?" Yang offered.

They were all on their hackles, ready to bolt at the bird's say-so. But Weiss turned to face them slowly and shook her head, her voice distant.

"No..." she mumbled, still stunned. "Don't wake them. It's... it's all right."

"What? You sure?" Yang checked.

"Yes. I think so. See for yourselves." Without hesitation this time, Weiss spread her wings to both sides. The others all watched in surprise as her left wing extended as far as her right this time, something it had never been able to do before. Jaws dropped, ears lifted, and tails wagged.

"Weiss..."

"Your wing..."

"It's healed!" Ruby squealed loudest of all, and she rushed forward to throw her arms around her friend, hugging her gently. Blake and Yang couldn't stay still either. Both hurried forward and crouched down, curling themselves around the smaller pair, offering excited purrs and congratulatory licks all around. Ruby giggled joyously and loudest of all, though Blake and Yang tied for a close second.

But Weiss...

Ruby noticed right away how quiet she was being, and she hastily pulled back, worried she'd hurt her wing in the exuberant hug. Weiss' eyes were closed and she hid her face in her feathery shoulder. When Ruby listened closely, she could hear sniffles.

"Weiss?!" she fretted. "Hey, are you okay? I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Weiss quickly lifted her head and shook it.

"Of course not... you dolt."

Only now did Ruby realize her friend was crying for joy. The mouse's cheeks lifted into another smile, and she nuzzled her nose back into Weiss' feathers.

"I'm so happy, Weiss. I'm so, so happy..."

Weiss merely nodded, and then lifted both wings to wrap them around the mouse's shoulders. As the two cried softly, Blake and Yang continued to lick and snuggle them to no end.

Once Weiss had gently chided Ruby to stop crying, the white bird went to Blake next and wrapped her wings around either side of the cat's face, tickling her whiskers. Blake's eyes were shining with joy.

"I'm so glad you're okay," she said, her purr a little choked with happiness. Weiss bumped her beak to Blake's nose.

"I've got you to thank for that. If it hadn't been for you, I would've become lunch for that tomcat a long time ago."

Blake purred harder and licked the bird's chest lightly. Once Weiss was satisfied with that, she moved on to Yang. Hopping on the cat's shoulder for support, Weiss landed on the dog's back. Yang turned and bent her head down, her big, wet nose nudging Weiss affectionately. Normally, Weiss would groan at the cold wetness that had been rubbed onto her pristine feathers, but this morning she let it slide.

"And you," she said, lifting her wings up to hug the dog's muzzle. "If not for you barging into our yard making a ruckus, that tomcat would've killed me a second time."

Even the rambunctious Yang's voice had softened now.

"Hey, it was my pleasure."

"Still... thank you, Yang." Weiss bumped her beak to the dog's nose. Yang's tail began thumping so quickly and with such force that she ended up sweeping Ruby off her paws. The little mouse giggled and climbed up Yang's tail, sitting together with Weiss on her back.

Yang couldn't keep her mouth closed at the moment. She was panting happily, tongue lolling out. With a happy whimper, she reached it out to give a lick to the top of Weiss' head. It was a bit slobbery, and the dog pulled back, embarrassed.

"Sorry."

Weiss shook herself off a little bit, then lifted her beak in a smile.

"Don't be."

Yang gave the happiest howl of all and ducked her head, nuzzling both Weiss and Ruby. Blake joined in, her purr getting louder by the second. Weiss chirped gleefully, warmly and gently smothered by their affection.

After a few minutes of it, the four of them were all coated in wet fur and feathers from all the licking - fur ruffled and hearts light. As they all finally pulled apart to situate and dry themselves, Weiss once more opened her wings from her perch on Yang's back. She wanted to give the others a little show.

At first, she was concerned that flying might be painful, that her wings might still be too weak to support her weight. But after giving a few quick experimental flaps, she curled her talons and jumped up.

There were no breezes inside the house, but Weiss' body easily placed itself onto an unseen air current. Her feathers glided over the air, and her wings naturally set to work in elevating her body.

Ruby was the first to gasp when she looked up, alerting the others to the scene above.

Weiss was flying. She was really, really flying.

She flitted about the living room, darting around all the pieces of furniture with ease and grace. She glided into the bathroom, then out again, into the kitchen, then out again. She made little circles, did little flips, and soared in such a way that if the other's hadn't seen and lived with it themselves, they never would have guessed her wing had been injured for the past several weeks.

They all cheered her on from below, barking and mewing and squeaking encouragement and praise as they waved their tails.

Weiss had never felt so wonderful before in all her life. Perhaps only when her elder sister Winter had helped teach her to fly when she was a fledgling.

When she'd been with her old flock, no one else had ever praised her for her flying. No one had ever gotten excited to see her do it. No one had ever made it special for her, because they could all do it, and it was natural for them.

But she knew now that she was special to these three.

So she sang.

For the first time in many, many months, Weiss opened her beak and let out a lovely little string of chirps.

It was surprising enough to have the others' ears perking up tall at the sound of it. Her song was almost like other bird calls, but Weiss' was somehow different. It was smoother, more melodic, more desirable to listen to. It was simply lovely.

She continued to flit about the house, singing her joy as the others cheered her on. It wasn't long before their humans heard the happy commotion and came downstairs to witness it. They, too, congratulated Weiss and clapped for her recovery. They complimented her song and admired her graceful flight. The humans declared they would all be having a special big breakfast to celebrate, then headed into the kitchen to start preparing it.

Blake could see that they were planning on giving her an entire can of her favorite tuna-flavored dish, and Yang would be getting a bit of leftover steak. The humans were also cutting up big pieces of fresh fruit for Weiss to peck at, and pulled a big cookie out of the jar for Ruby.

They were all called into the kitchen to eat, and the excited patter of paws this time was accompanied by the flutter of wings.

It was almost difficult to get Weiss to land – now that she could fly again, that seemed to be all she wanted to do. But at the thought of dining together in a feast with her friends, the little bird lowered herself and perched on Yang's head, then hopped her way down to the floor.

The four of them ate together, side-by-side, while their humans chatted and ate merrily at the kitchen table. There were happy grunts all around as they indulged themselves in the special meal for a solid five minutes or so.

When it was over and they were all perfectly full, they waddled and hopped over to the humans to rub against their legs and thank them.

The quartet cleaned themselves up a bit before deciding to head outside to sun-bathe. Yang led the way out of the hole in the door, followed by Blake, and then Ruby, who held the door open for Weiss.

The bird hopped out last, her eyes instantly going up to the wide blue sky above. Other birds were flitting about high above, some darting in quick lines as they raced one another, others soaring in a slower cruise, while others still flapped in a purposeful formation. She was itching to join them.

Yang and Blake were headed for their favorite spot to nap in the grass, but Ruby noticed the lack of someone her size next to her. She turned back to call for Weiss, only to realize the bird hadn't moved so much as a hop past the front door. Ruby's tail drooped, as did her whiskers.

"Weiss...?"

The sound of her small, dejected voice after a morning of such joy alerted the other two. Yang and Blake turned back and saw what was happening. They quickly hurried over to Weiss, halting a few feet away. Ruby was crawling closer to her friend, nervously calling out to her.

"Weiss? What's the matter?"

Blake and Yang shared a pained glance. Their ears dropped, tails stopped wagging, and whiskers trembled. They both knew very well what was on Weiss' mind.

Gently, Blake swept Ruby up in the loop of her tail and drew her closer, preventing her from getting to Weiss.

"Ruby..." she said with a sigh. How was she supposed to say this?

Ruby wriggled away from Blake and darted out back toward her friend.

"Weiss!"

But this time, Yang put a big yellow paw in her path to stop her.

"Ruby... you've gotta understand. This is Weiss' decision. Not yours."

Ruby looked up at the bigger of the two with wide, scared eyes.

"N-No!" she pleaded. "I-I don't want her to go!"

"I'm sorry, Ruby," Blake murmured. "It's not up to you."

They could almost hear the little mouse's heart break. Blake and Yang felt pains in their chests as well. All eyes turned to Weiss. Blake lowered her ears and spoke softly.

"Weiss... are you...? Do you want to-"

"Leave?" Weiss finished. "You three are unbelievable."

The others blinked in surprise, Ruby clutching at Yang's tail as her nose trembled. Weiss rolled her eyes and stomped a tiny pink foot at them all.

"Do you honestly expect me to just take off after everything we've been through? You think I'll just fly off because I can? Well here's a bit of news for you all. I might be able to leave now, but that doesn't mean I want to."

Slowly, as her words registered with them, their ears and tails began to lift once more. Yang, Blake, and Ruby all spoke hopefully.

"So..."

"That means..."

"You're gonna stay?"

Weiss let out a whistling sigh.

"What kind of a question is that, you dolt? It's safe here. There are no crazy tomcats or hawks in this house, no hunters. If I catch cold, there will be humans to help me get better. They've also got delectable food, and warm water." She listed off each thing with a satisfied smile. But what she spoke most fondly and dearly of was saved for last.

"Besides. I've got all of you here. I won't have that anywhere else. Of course I'm staying. It's where I'll get to be with you three."

For the second time that morning, they all felt a stinging sensation behind their eyes. Ruby was the first to break away and run to Weiss, hugging her tightly and bowling her over into the soft grass below. She wailed for joy and nuzzled into those soft white feathers.

Blake scrambled after them with Yang not far behind.

A chorus of happy squeaks, tweets, mews, and barks rose up onto the air as the four friends curled together in a big pile of fur and fluff. They licked and laughed and loved, savoring these moments together, knowing they wouldn't be the last.

This was only the beginning chapter of their book, and there would surely be many more to come.

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A/N: Many more indeed! We've got 25 chapters in total incoming haha