2 Cookies Eaten [Action/Audio.]

[onecream_fivesugar]

The next time Yang wants Pop-tarts, she can go and pick them up herself. The last thing Ruby had expected was a bunch of goons to ambush her on way from the store. While Ruby could say that the majority of these guys were going to be spending some time in the hospital after this encounter, she couldn't say that she won either. One of those goons managed to land a land a lucky shot that left her dazed and unable to defend herself from a second shot that knocked her unconscious.

This was the worst day ever.

When Ruby regained consciousness, she was welcomed by a throbbing headache and a pain in her back. The headache was probably thanks to shot that knocked her out and the sore back was probably thanks to the pipe she was tied up to.

...Wait a second... Those thugs tied her to a pipe!?

Normally Ruby would start to run around in circles and panic, but she couldn't do that at that the moment so flailing around against the pipe would have to do. Once she got the initial shock of her situation out of her system she took a few deep breaths and began to look around to see just how bad it really was.

It looked like she was in some sort of underground waterway or sewer. Her hands were tied behind her back. Rope pinned her to the pillar at her ankles, knees and waist. There was a steady stream of water flowing into the room, right now it go over her feet but seemed to be slowly rising. Crescent Rose propped up against a wall a few feet away where she couldn't reach it, great. There also seemed to be a note posted up beside Crescent Rose, it didn't take her long to read it over but by the time she was finished she could feel her heart pounding in her chest.

1. Read off that speech and if you deviate from it by a single word you will die immediately.

2. You can talk to anybody but if you even attempt to speculate about where you are, or about who brought you here, you will die immediately.

This is the worst day ever.

Luckily whoever had done this to her had been nice enough to leave her phone in her reach. It took a bit of time thanks her to trembling fingers and not being able to see what she's doing in the first place, but she managed to start up an audio broadcast.

[Audio]

O-once upon a time, Little Red Riding hood was bringing a basket through the woods to grandmother's house. But in these woods were many dangers, and soon she found herself being hunted by the Big Bad Wolf. The little girl ran and ran as fast as she could but try as she might, the Wolf followed her through those dark woods until she had nowhere left to run.

Now the wolf has her and he's brought her all the way back to where her story began, and is getting ready to gobble her up. Unless a brave huntsman can come find her before that happens.

The water is rising and the clock is ticking. Three hours.

Move quickly. There will be no resurrections today, nomatterwhatpriceispaid.

Comments

[descendsfromshadow]

The stunned gypsies and Jaune are treated to another sight as Blake drops from up above and straight into the hole in the ground. There's a loud bang as she fires Gambol Shroud and embeds the blade into the stone floor, letting the black ribbon run out behind her. Her teammates were down there, she wasn't leaving them there alone.

She braces herself as best she can but the water still hits like a hundred knives. It's so cold! She clings to the ribbon as the currents rush over her and pulls herself up to the surface, coughing and gasping for air.

Yang's a stronger swimmer and has a headstart but Blake, has the night vision, and she swims forward, still holding onto Gambol Shroud's cord, searching for any sign of the younger girl.

"Ruby! Can you hear us?"

[onecream_fivesugar]

Wonderful, more explosions. Could this guy just make up his mind on how he planned to kill her? I mean seriously, drowning, hypothermia, and explosions? This was getting a little ridiculous.

Wait, Was that Yang's voice? And Blake's? She tried to push herself up as high as she could so she could call out to them, but her limbs were exhausted, numb and refused to move. The water was up past her neck and she had to hold her head up high to keep her nose and move from being submerged.

"Here. I'm here..." She tried to call out as best she could. But she was absolutely frigid and could barely muster anything more than a whisper.

[solar_flare]

Ruby! Hang on!

[Yang plants her hand against the pipe to steady herself, takes a deep breath, and dives to start yanking at the knots. It's almost impossible to work them loose. It's too dark, and her hands are numb. Poor Ruby, she must be miserable!]

[Yang surfaces with a noisy gasp.]

This isn't working! I need something to cut with!

[descendsfromshadow]

Blake was not the strongest swimmer. She knew enough to keep herself afloat but as much as she hated the stuff, she'd never really learned more. She ends up thudding into the wall beside Ruby and Yang, sputtering and coughing up water, and trying to keep her composure down here for Ruby's sake.

"Hold onto this!" She shoves the ribbon into Yang's hands, take a few deep breaths and vanishes below the churning water.

Underneath, it's dark and cold but to Faunus eyes, the light coming through is enough. She holds onto the pipe with one hand and grabs the heavy cleaver-sheath from her back, sawing away at the ropes around Ruby's arms.

Come on...!

[onecream_fivesugar]

By the time the both Yang and Blake have gotten there the water risen up to a point where Ruby can't keep her mouth or nose above water anymore. She's barely seems to be putting up a fight at the moment. Her limbs are stiff and numb from being stuck in this cold water for so long.

It takes a bit more time than any of them would like, but her arms are freed from the ropes. Now there's just her legs left.

[short_n_sweet]

People were crowding, and Jaune was trying to assure them that everything was fine, but they didn't really understand him... not entirely, anyway. Giving up on that, Jaune moved to get onto the ground and lean into the hole, trying to see as best he can inside. "Guys?! Do you have her?!" He yells.

Surely they have her. If they didn't, they'd be back by now. He lays out flat on his front on the ground so he could hang his arms over the side of the gap in the street. "Come on, guys..."

[solar_flare]

"Just about!" Yang shouts back up, clinging to Gambol Shroud's ribbon as tightly as she can. She knows Blake hates the water, so now she's fretting about both girls.

Ruby was starting to slip. Yang's eyes went wide, and she shot forward, moving to put her hand under her sister's chin to hold her head up for her. "Don't you give up on us now, Ruby. We're so close! Keep fighting!"

Keep fighting. If only she had a straw or a tube or something to keep the water out a little while longer! A shotgun shell just wouldn't cut it, but she did consider the notion.

[descendsfromshadow]

Blake is a little too busy being underwater to hear Jaune's shout. She considers breaking the surface to take a breath but there's just no time. Instead she dives down further, cutting away at the ropes around her legs next.

It's slow going and her lungs are burning for air by the time she's done, but finally Ruby's freed from the pipe. Finally, she breaks the surface with a harsh gasp, and quickly gets a mouthful of water anyway.

"She's loose-- get the ribbon-- around her." She manages between coughs. Jaune can't pull all of them up, and they need Ruby out of there first.

[onecream_fivesugar]

With Yang propping her head up Ruby will be able to keep breathing until the rest of the ropes are cut. Once she's freed though she wont be able to do much. Her muscles are stiff, numb and wont respond to any command she gives them.

[solar_flare]

Yang didn't waste any time, wrapping the ribbon several times around Ruby's waist. She lifted her head, spitting out some of the water, and shouted up at Jaune.

"Heave ho, Jaune!"

Once Ruby was up, only then did Yang let her go, and only then did she dare offer a strained but grateful smile at Blake. Thank goodness the Faunus was there to help them.

[short_n_sweet]

Seeing Yang come with Ruby, Jaune couldn't have looked happier or more relieved. "Oh thank God," He said simply, holding his hands as far down as he could so Yang could hand Ruby up. It was a little fumbly at first, but soon Jaune got a good grip on her.

"NNngh!" He grunted as he hauled her up. She was normally light and easy to lift but now she was soaking wet and dead weight.

Hauling her up, Jaune laid her out on the ground, blinking a few times. "Ruby? Hey!" He touched her face and it was cold. "Oh no..."

"Guys, she's not waking up!" He shouted back down to them, "What do I do?!"

[descendsfromshadow]

Down below, Blake's holding onto that wall for all she's worth and dragging herself over to the hole. That Ruby lasted this long had to be a testament to the girl's strength, Blake felt like her Aura was on overdrive just warding off the cold.

And the water's still rising.

"We need to go!" She shouts across to Yang.

[solar_flare]

"You first!" Yang shouted back. She was anxious to be up on the streets with her sister, especially after she heard Jaune's shout. Her blood went cold, and she knew it had nothing to do with the water.

Still, with the water levels continuing to rise, they were almost to the hole that led to the gypsy courts Yang had crashed through. Yang navigated her way toward the hole, positioning herself underneath. "I'll give you a boost."

[trigram]

[Arriving just now, Sofia slowed down her flight, activating the air break and wing flaps on her back for a slow, non-destructive landing. There were many on-lookers giving her funny looks, but she hurried toward Ruby and Jaune. She heard him panic about Ruby not waking up, and pushed the onlookers aside to get to the girl]

Move!

[Kneeling down beside Ruby and helmet folding to free her entire head, she quickly checking for breathing and a pulse. Hissing sharply between her teeth, Sofia began to do some chest compression on Ruby, hoping she'd show some response]

[short_n_sweet]

When Sophia came rushing over, Jaune practically tripped as she knelt down and started to try and resuscitate Ruby. "Whoa, is that..." The woman from the video game store? She has some kind of armored suit?! Shaking it off, it seems like the woman knows what she's doing, so he turns to try and help Blake and Yang out.

"Come on guys, get up here!" He yells, holding his hand down to get one, then the other of course and help haul them up.

[onecream_fivesugar]

[There's no response from Ruby at first. As Sofia continues to give her chest compression though she'll start to cough up some water.]

[descendsfromshadow]

Blake starts to protest being the first one up but quickly realizes how stupid that is. Yang's stronger than her, and if either of them have a chance of pushing the other one up, it's her.

"Okay!" She nods, swimming over to Yang and reaches out for that boost.

[solar_flare]

Yang is the Arnold Schwarzenegger of their group, it was true. And with her Ember Celica to power her arms with a well-choiced blast, she can certainly give Blake enough boosting power to propel the lithe warrior up through the spacious underground chamber.

Some of the stone crumbled around the edge of the hole. Yang winced, jerking to the side as she heard a deep, echoing groan.

"Uh-oh."

Slabs of stone, upset by Yang's powerhouse punches as a means of amateur tunneling, finally cracked and came loose. The big chunks of rock thudded into the water, the hole yawning wide as more and more debris came raining down on Yang, dropping her down into the dark depths of the rushing water.

[short_n_sweet]

"Come on, hurry up!" Jaune tried stretching his arm far into the gap to try and grab someone's hand, and he ended up getting Blake's. Pulling as best he could, he helps Blake climb out... But then the ground started to crumble further around the hole.

Meaning under their feet too.

"... Eh? Oh sh--"

As the ground started to fall out from under him, Jaune scrambled backwards to avoid plunging in. "Nononono! Gah, man!" Once the debris fell away and it seemed like no more would, Jaune quickly fell to his hands and knees to look into the now wider hole. "Yang?!"

[descendsfromshadow]

Blake grabs onto Jaune's hand and hauls herself up and over the edge with a grunt, and drops forward onto her hands and knees, coughing up even more water.

She's already looking back for Yang when the crumbling starts, and her eyes widen.

"Yang!"

Too late, the ground's already giving way and it's all Blake can do to dive out of the way and roll to a stop on solid ground again. By the time the cave-in stops, she's already on her feet and rushing back toward the hole, shouting her friend's name.

She doesn't even notice her bow coming loose and drifting to the ground behind her.

[solar_flare]

There was no response; just a lot of rushing water and a few more plummeting stones plopping down. One beat. Two.

Down below, Yang was engulfed in cold and darkness. A heavy slab of stone pushed her relentlessly downward. Bubbles trailed out of her mouth as she twisted and fought to disengage. She wasn't going to die here; no way! Her little sister was freezing, and Yang promised she'd always be there for her. That promise wasn't going to be broken. Not today.

Then there was a muffled boom, sending Yang streaking up, punching through a falling stone, slapping another smaller one aside, before arcing out of the hole. Instead of landing gracefully, her numb legs failed her, rolling her over the ground to come to a stop where she hacked and sputtered.

That was a close one.

She pushed herself up onto one elbow before lifting her head. Her once fluffy gold hair was dark and flat, draped over her soaked and shivering body. "How is she? I-is she okay?" she rasped, dragging herself unsteadily up to one knee, then her feet.

[short_n_sweet]

Jaune kind of squints as he hears some faint booms from below, and leans in just a little closer to...

SUDDENLY YANG.

"GYAH!" Jaune jumps and falls backwards onto his backside as Yang launches up into the air, and then splats on the ground like a wet fish. Turning quickly to see that she was fine, Jaune stands up and brushes himself off. "Oh good, that's good," He says, until he notices that Blake's Faunus is showing.

O_O

[onecream_fivesugar]

Ruby's alive and breathing, but she is most certainly out like a light right now. Her mind and body have had just about enough with today, thank you very much.

[descendsfromshadow]

Blake stumbles back, raising her arms against the sudden blast of Yang's reemergence to the surface world. The dust clears and there's Yang, getting to her feet, and Blake's already over there, helping her stand up.

"We need to get her warmed up, but I think she's okay. We did it."

She still hasn't noticed.

[solar_flare]

"That's a relief." Gratefully Yang accepts the help up, then pauses when she realizes that Blake's bow isn't a bow. Um. Oops. When did THAT happen? Quickly she shed her jacket and dropped it on Blake's head as though in playful affection, to hide the ears. "Here, you're probably cold. This will warm you up."

She leaned in close, whispering a quick warning to her partner. Yang certainly didn't care that Blake was a Faunus, but Blake cared.

Walking up to Sofia and Ruby, she smiled, crouching down to scoop Ruby up in her arms and just hug her. She let her aura loose, just enough to radiate plenty of heat, and kept her sister close. "You're okay now, Ruby. We're here." She nuzzled her cheek against Ruby's wet, dark hair. "I've got you. I've got you."