In a Land Far, Far Away # 2

(It is strongly recommended that you read the Author's Notes below before reading this story.)


Of all the holidays and traditions Vale had, by far, Halloween had to be the strangest. For a one Blake Belladonna, that is.

Also known as All Hallows Eve, on this particular night, the common expectation was that children of all ages would parade around from house to house, demanding candies of many kinds, using a weird sort of enchantment.

“Trick-or-Treat!” Ruby exclaimed, the youngster of the group beaming brightly in spite of the blank look Professor Glynda Goodwitch was giving her.

Aside from the bordering on illegal candy acquisition, this unusual tradition also demanded that people carve orange coloured squashes. Once butchered, those same squashes were to be left by the front door of peoples' homes, brightly lit. These squashes, called pumpkins, were the key identifiers to children seeking sugary goodness as to which houses were prime targets to stalk and which ones weren't. And that was the reason they were here now, Team RWBY, indulging in this usual ritual.

Blake watched with almost clinical curiosity as the blonde professor reached back inside her office for an excessively large bowl filled to the brim with candy. To the part faunus' embarrassment, this was the first time that Blake had ever participated in the tradition known as Halloween. During her time with the White Fang, they didn't have the luxury for such things. Back then, the only thing that mattered was staying alive. Now that that part of her life was over, Blake happily indulged in the more... unique things life had to offer, the black haired girl unable to think of a better group aside from her team to experience those things with for the first time.

Glancing to her partner and teammate, Blake's eyebrows raised in surprise at the sight of an almost drooling Yang. The busty blonde was a mirror image of Team RWBY's leader, both girls looking up at Professor Goodwitch with such awe, as if this was the first time either of them had ever seen candy before. After the veteran Huntress deposited handfuls of candies into each of their four tot bags, she took her leave with a brief nod, closing her office door shortly afterwards. No sooner had the professor's door closed, loot was assessed and examined.

“Ohhhhhh! Sis! Sis!” Ruby squealed, pulling something out of her tot bag. “This is-”

“-thesuperdeluxefantasticsugarhightriplechocolatedoublefudgebarsupreme!” Yang finished for her younger sibling, the blonde as equally excited.

How Yang managed all of that in half a breath, with some left over, was unknown to the part faunus. Then again, this was Yang after all. How she did a lot of things would forever remain a mystery to Blake.

Blake blinked, trying to comprehend that jumble of words. “The... what?”

Weiss sighed audibly, hanging her head. The heiress stood on the far left of the group. Blake stood on the far right. Ruby and Yang stood in between them both. Stealing a glance at her hyper partner on her right, Weiss turned to face Blake.

“What they mean to say is that it's a really good chocolate bar,” Weiss explained.

“Oh,” was all Blake said in response.

The black haired girl looked down at her own tot bag in search of the fabled item. She hadn't known such things existed, for nothing like that was ever written about in the books she had read about Halloween. Maybe it was a new thing? Not that Blake had a fetish for chocolate or anything. Oh no. She just... appreciated... how Yang enjoyed her sweets was all. The blonde was truly fascinating to watch during those times.

“The super deluxe fantastic sugar high triple chocolate double fudge bar supreme...” Blake murmured to herself as she searched for the novel item. She didn't find any in her bag. Apparently, none of the chocolate bars in her stash had that name printed on their packaging. Was that perhaps a codename of sorts for this elusive candy bar?

Team RWBY currently stood in the long hallway known to all Beacon students as Death's Alley. Here, the offices to all the professors in Beacon Academy resided, the corridor a mix of doors and windows which overlooked the western side of campus. Rather than freshly cut and lit Jack-o-Lanterns standing guard in front of the professors' offices, there were cardboard cut outs stuck to their doors instead.

How they ended up here, Blake would never remember. She vaguely remembered Ruby telling her it had to do with team bonding, socialization, and for whatever ridiculous reason, candy acquisition. Oh, and Halloween of course.

Blake was not so much of a sweets person. The only reason she agreed to collect it, along with the rest of the team in the first place, was to bribe (or blackmail, depending on who you asked) Yang with it later. The blonde had such a sweet tooth, one only rivalled by Ruby's.

“Alright!” Ruby exclaimed, now recovering from her momentarily candy induced stupor. “Next office is Professor Port's!”

Blake looked over to their enthusiastic leader, giving the girl's outerwear a once over. Like usual, whenever they were not attending classes, Ruby wore her signature red cloak and red and black dress and boots. Unlike usual however, Ruby also chose to don fake plastic teeth with extended and sharpened canines, paint her face white and dabble fake blood dripping down her chin from her lips. She was dressed up as a vampire, or so the younger girl had told her when Blake inquired about it before the whole outing started.

Clearly, this was the pop culture version of vampires. Vampires in books were not so... subdued and lacking viciousness. The vampires in books were as horrifying, if not even more horrifying than some of the more terrifying Grimm they learned about in class. Thankfully, they didn't exist in real life. The Grimm were bad enough.

“Please tell me that's the last one,” Weiss groaned. The Schnee heiress rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand.

“Nope!” Ruby said rather cutely, much to her partner's further annoyance. “There are still dozens more to go after this one! And don't forget, we'll be hitting up Professor Ozpin's office last! A little birdie told me that he has the best candies of them all.”

Blake would later learn that little birdie was none other than Nora Valkyrie. That was not really surprising considering how much alike the pinkette was to Ruby.

Ruby gave Weiss her brilliant, yet childishly innocent smile, making the sword wielder sigh again. The white haired girl looked ready to say something in opposition, but immediately folded upon Ruby's smile. Poor, poor Weiss. Blake could somewhat sympathize with her.

“Oh c'mon Weiss!” Yang said, giving the white haired girl a grin.

Blake was quickly pulled against the blonde, her partner wrapping an arm around Blake's shoulders when she wasn't paying attention. Blake blushed shyly at the contact.

“Even Blakey here is having fun,” Yang continued, oblivious to the obvious discomfort (not really) she was causing her partner. “Aren't you, Blakey?”

Blake shyly nodded upon realizing she was being asked a question, the part faunus not trusting her voice right now. She was still getting used to all of this touching and contact with her partner, Yang being very affectionate between the two of them.

“See?” Yang said, giving the Schnee heiress a look. “Stop being a party pooper. Gao!”

Weiss rolled her eyes and huffed at that comment, soon after allowing herself to be pulled by the arm by Ruby, and dragged towards the next door. Having recovered enough from the unexpected contact with her partner, Blake turned to look at the blonde holding her.

Like Ruby, Yang sought to indulge herself in the art of cosplaying as well. Similar to her sister, the blonde wore her signature brown leather jacket along with her skirt and leather boots. Added to her regular ensemble was a headband with two round, furry brown ears on it, which sat comfortably on her head. A furry brown tail also hung down from the back of Yang's skirt waistband at the back. In place of her regular black gloves were furry brown mittens with claws on the fingertips. And on her face was black face paint, highlighting whiskers on her cheeks and a round black nose between them.

Thankfully, neither Yang nor Ruby forced Blake to dress up with them, aside from what she normally wore. That would have been a bit... awkward. Ruby tried to convince Weiss to cosplay, but one could guess how that went considering Weiss was garbed in her typical white dress and white platformed boots and nothing more.

“Ohhhhhh Blakey!” Yang said, snapping Blake out of her thoughts. “What's that ya got there?”

Blake watched in silence as Yang reached into her tot bag to pull out a brightly wrapped chocolate bar. As luck would have it, the colour of their tot bags (courtesy of Ruby) coincided with their own personal colour preferences. Ruby had a red velvet bag. Weiss had a silk white bag. Yang had a shimmering gold bag, and Blake's bag was furry black. Oversized pillowcases was what Blake called them. Yang laughed heartily when Blake described them as such hours ago.

A squeal drew Blake's gaze from her oversized pillowcase to her partner's face. The black haired girl would have staggered backwards from the sheer cuteness of Yang's expression had it not been for the blonde's arm still wrapped around her shoulders. If someone had told her that only Ruby could pull off the puppy dog look, they obviously hadn't met Yang.

“C-Can I haz?” Yang asked her with such reverance, the blonde's violet eyes big and round and almost tearful. “Pwease Blakey?”

Blake's eyes darted back and forth between Yang's adorable face and the chocolate bar in the brawler's hand. “Uh... sure?” she said after a few seconds.

“Oh thank you Blakey!” Yang exclaimed, nearly jumping up and down for joy, taking Blake with her.

Blake's expression softened. Yang was so cute!

In her excitement, Yang squeezed Blake tighter against her, the blonde soon afterwards leaning over to give her a chaste kiss on the cheek. “I love you!”

Blake's cheeks erupted in red, the part faunus feeling half dazed by the open affection her partner was giving her. While not really a touchy feely type, Blake quickly learned just how much she enjoyed her partner's touch. They had yet to get anywhere past simple hugs and a kiss here and there, due to Blake's own nervousness about being in a relationship, but Yang was patient and promised to take things as slow as Blake liked.

“Oye!” came a shout from down the hallway. It was Ruby, the redhead waving at them excitedly a door down from where they stood. “Hurry up Yang! We don't have much time left before the masquerade! And there's still plenty of doors left!”

The masquerade. Right. They still had to prepare for that.

“Coming! Coming!” Yang shouted back to her sister, also waving. The blonde chuckled at her sister's excitement antics before looking back to Blake. “Shall we, Blakey?”

Blake smiled, reflecting Yang's happiness. Those ears really did look good on Yang. Too bad they weren't real.

“Yes,” Blake said. “Let's.”

***

Professor Ozpin spared no expense for the masquerade ball which followed later on in the night. It was held in a large ballroom, complete with spiralling staircases leading up to the upper balcony, along with water fountains and many tables of food and drink. Servers dressed up as butlers in white and black outfits were hired for this event, many of them walking around the floor offering students a wide variety of hors d'oeuvres and non alcoholic drinks. Someone managed to sneak some alcohol in though, Blake scrunching her nose slightly when she came across that potent scent as she passed by the drinks table earlier. How that person got it past all the professors mingling about, Blake didn't know. What she did know was this. Without a doubt, someone had spiked the punch.

“I'm flattered, really,” Weiss said, snapping Blake out of her thoughts. “But I must decline.”

This must have been the tenth person Weiss had turned away since coming to the masquerade ball. Both Blake and Weiss were the first of Team RWBY to arrive, their partners off finalizing their own costumes for the night. Unlike before, it was a requirement for Blake to dress up this time, and though reluctant about it originally, Blake agreed to do so. Well, she didn't really agree to it. It was more that she didn't have a choice in the matter.

~ An hour ago ~

“Blake, what are you doing?”

After a successful trick-or-treating outing earlier, Team RWBY was now back in their dorm preparing for the masquerade ball. While her teammates set about to freshen themselves up, changing into their designated attire, Blake crawled up onto her bed with a book in hand, ready to catch up on some reading.

“I'm reading my book?” Blake said, uncertain as to what Yang was really getting at.

“Aren't you getting ready for the masquerade?” Yang questioned, raising her eyebrow. The blonde stood next to Blake's bed.

“I'm ready right now,” Blake stated, opening her book to the page she left off on. Before she could read the first line of the page, her book was promptly snatched out of her hands.

“You are not going like that,” Yang said, her hands on her hips. In one hand was Blake's book.

“Why not?” Blake asked, her brow furled in annoyance.

Blake rather liked her signature outfit. It was the most optimal thing to wear, especially if a sudden mission came up and she needed to fight. It was light and easy to move in, and she saw no reason to change it. What else would she wear? It was not like Blake had many outfits aside from her uniform and normal everyday wear. Blake had no idea what this masquerade ball was, but from the way Yang had attempted to explain it to her earlier, it sounded like a reconnaissance mission complete with infiltration disguises and all.

“C'mon Blake!” Yang said in exasperation, throwing her hands up into the air. “This is the one night you get to dress up as anything or anyone want! Surely there's something you've always wanted to dress up as?”

Blake blinked blankly. “No...?”

Yang stared at Blake in surprise. “Really?”

Blake nodded. “Really.”

“There's nothing else you've ever wanted to be, even just for a minute?”

“No,” Blake repeated. This line of questioning was redundant, was it not?

“Whaaaaaaaaaaat?” came a startled cry from the other end of the room. Ruby popped into Blake's line of vision seconds later. “No way!” the younger girl said.

Blake could only raise an eyebrow at the two siblings. Really, what was the big deal? Blake was perfectly happy with herself. Why would there be any need to be anyone else?

Before either Yang or Ruby could say anything further, Weiss took this opportunity to step in.

“Leave her alone you two,” the Schnee heiress said, yanking both Ruby and Yang away from Blake by the backs of their collars.

“Wha- hey!” Yang protested.

“Weiss!” Ruby whined.

“Don't you two have costumes to get into?” the white haired girl said, arms crossed over her chest in aggravation.

“But-”

“You forget?” Weiss said. “This is Blake's first Halloween. So it's only natural she doesn't know about this stuff.”

Blake nodded, thankful for the heiress' intervention. She and Weiss may not have gotten along right at the beginning, but their relationship since then had improved.

Or so she thought.

Then Weiss continued to talk, making Blake reconsider that idea.

“Besides,” Weiss continued. “Neither of you have time to help her get into costume. I, on the other hand, do.”

Blake's other eyebrow rose in response to that comment.

Weiss glanced back over her shoulder at the part faunus, making Blake feel weary. “And I have just the thing for her.”

~ Present ~

Weiss had quite the thing indeed.

Blake wore a strapless, shoulder-less purple gown which flared out from the waist downwards. Layer upon layer of ruffles made up the lower half of the dress, a purple satin trailing up the right side of the lower half with lavender ruffles cascading down the left side. A mixed purple and lavender satin flower was stitched to her left hip just above the ruffles. Blake's arms wore matching purple satin gloves which  stopped just past her elbows. To top off her outfit, around Blake's neck was a silver and amethyst necklace, borrowed from Weiss' own personal collection, her signature black bow adorning her head. No matter what Weiss tried, the bow remained a permanent fixture the part faunus absolutely refused to remove.

Blake watched, a small smile on her face as the boy dressed up as an Ursa walked away from the Schnee heiress dejectedly. She really felt bad for the boy, a cute little wolf faunus at that, but nothing could really be done about it. Weiss was saving her first dance for someone special, someone who's favorite colour was red.

“Another one bites the dust...” Blake commented, to which Weiss gave her a look.

“Oh, don't you start that now too,” Weiss huffed. She gave her part faunus teammate an annoyed look. “It's bad enough Yang spouts out those ridiculous puns all the time.”

Blake just chuckled.

Weiss was robed in a sleeveless open back white silk dress. The dress itself flared out from the hips, giving it a bell shape. Silver sequins were sewn into the bodice in swirling patterns, sparkling in the soft light which lit up the ballroom. White beads, most likely small pearls, covered the hem and lower part of the dress, sewn in intricate patterns befit of the Schnee heiress. Weiss' hands and arms were covered in matching silk gloves which stopped just past her elbows. Unlike usual, Weiss' hair tonight was done up in a bun, off to the side, topped off with a silver tiara which sat on her head. Like Ozpin, Weiss spared no expense for her outfit tonight. And it really showed. It was no wonder she was being accosted so much this evening.

“Thank you,” Blake said, confusing Weiss for a moment. “For the dress I mean,” she quickly explained. Blake fought hard not to flush. Like Weiss, Blake too had her fair share of potential suitors, but had turned every single one of them down.

Weiss offered Blake a genuine smile, something which was very rare and only happened with her teammates and very close friends. “It looks good on you,” the Schnee heiress said

Blake started to fidget. “It must have cost so much-”

“Cost is not an issue,” Weiss said, cutting her off. Blue eyes scanned the crowd as Weiss continued to speak. “It's not often I can wear dresses like this here at Beacon. Not on a regular basis at least. Sometimes it's nice to indulge yourself every once in a while.”

Blake smiled. She could appreciate that.

“Besides, all it was doing was taking up space in my closet,” Weiss continued. “It would have been a shame not to have someone wear it, even if it wasn't me.”

“But still,” Blake said, still not used to this treatment. Weiss had even taken the time to show her how to walk in the matching heels she borrowed too after all.

“Thank you.”

“You're part of my family now, Blake,” Weiss said, her gaze softening. “There's no need to thank me.”

Weiss had no idea how much that meant to Blake, hearing those few words. Speechless by that admission, that acceptance, that kindness, all Blake could do was smile and nod.

A white rose came between them, a new voice joining them. “A pretty flower for a pretty lady?”

Both girls immediately turned to the newcomer. As this sort of thing had already happened, many times in fact as they waited for their wayward partners, a dismissal was already rolling off of Weiss lips as she turned to face their intruder.

“Look,” Weiss started. “I-”

Weiss froze.

A brilliant, beaming smile made the Schnee heiress completely forget what she about to say. There standing in front of her, in front of them both, was Ruby Rose. And not just any Ruby Rose. It was Prince Charming Ruby Rose.

Tight black pants hugged Ruby's legs, knee high tall black leather boots covering her feet. Ruby wore a white, neatly ironed shirt, covered up with a magnificent red coat with silver adornments running along the collar, down the breast of the chest and along the cuffs of the jacket. A black leather belt with a silver buckle was tied over the red coat, a gleaming blade sheathed and hanging off of it on Ruby's right hip. Whether or not the sword was real, it was hard to tell at this point, but really, that mattered little.

White gloves covered the younger girl's hand, a white rose also held loosely in her fingers. To finish off the outfit, Ruby's signature crimson coloured cloak hung off of her shoulders and down her back, completing her regal look. Dark hair with crimson highlights was slicked back, silver orbs sparkling brightly in the dim light.

Princess Weiss Schnee stood speechless in the presence of her partner, a light blush colouring her cheeks. The sword wielder's heart was beating so fast right now, Blake easily picking up the sound with her super human hearing. The part faunus could almost see the butterflies fluttering around in Weiss' stomach right now.

Ruby tucked the white rose in Weiss' hair above her left ear, the scythe wielder leaning in to give her partner a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Would you honour me with a dance, Milady?” Ruby asked quite chivalrously. She offered Weiss her hand to take.

Weiss swallowed noticeably before looking shyly to the side for a moment. “I'd... I'd like that.”

Ruby smiled at a very stunned Blake, giving the part faunus a wink before leading her partner over to the dance floor. Blake couldn't but chuckle after she got her wits about her, she just as surprised as Weiss by Ruby's sudden appearance. No wonder Ruby took so long to get here. It wasn't easy getting into a costume like that. Too many layers. But if Ruby's expression, along with Weiss', were any indication, it was well worth it.

Now only one question remained. Where was her partner?

“If beauty were time, you’d be eternity. ”

Speak of the devil.

Blake turned towards the familiar voice, a small smile on her lips before she too froze upon sight of the person. For a moment her heart stopped, and she couldn't breathe.

“You look stunning, Blakey,” Yang said.

Yang wore a collared white shirt, a golden vest over top of it, both layers covered up by a black blazer. Black gloves cover her hands, black neatly pressed pants and polished black shoes adorning her legs and feet. To top it all off, a white half mask covered the right side of Yang's face, from the forehead stopping just short of her mouth. Blonde locks of golden hair was neatly combed and straightened behind the blonde, something Blake never ever thought was possible.

This had to be the first time that Blake had ever seen Yang covered up this much before. And wow, did her partner look... amazing...

A grin.

“Got ya speechless, have I?”

Blake flustered quickly at that comment, the part faunus looking away shyly for a moment.

“Y-You fiend!” was all Black could muster in response. Her cheeks flamed hot.

A black gloved hand reached out and held up Blake's hand in its own. Amber coloured eyes met violet ones as Yang kissed the back of Blake's hand, making the black haired girl blush even more.

“Care to dance?”

amber eyes looked up as Blake smiled coyly. Yang's heart leapt into her throat at that look.

“I thought you'd never ask.”

The two made their way onto the dance floor, passing by a flustered Jaune Arc and blushing Pyrrha Nikos. Jaune was dressed up as a knight from medieval times, complete with chain-mail and bulky armor, while Pyrrha was dressed up in her uniform minus the blazer. She was going for the school girl look apparently. Somewhere in the background Nora and Ren were raiding the hors d'oeuvres table, both of them dressed up as sloths. One could only guess where those outfits came from, and despite how embarrassing it must have been to wear it, Ren wore his proudly along side his partner.

Just as the black and yellow couple found an empty spot on the dance floor, a slow song started playing over the loud speakers. Blake immediate set her left hand down on Yang's shoulder, her right held in Yang's left off to the side. Yang's free hand rested on Blake's hip.

“I know I said it before,” Yang said softly, as they moved with each other to the song's slow beat. “But you really do look stunning, Blake.”

Blake smiled, unable to resist the allure of her partner and rested her cheek against Yang's collar. She felt Yang tense up against her, this move having without a doubt, startled the blonde. “B-Blake?”

It wasn't often that Blake initiated such close moments after all.

“You look good too,” the part faunus said. Taking in a lungful of air, her smile widened as she closed her eyes and nuzzled against her partner further. “And you smell delicious too.”

That comment had Yang blushing something fierce, Blake chuckling as she heard and felt Yang's heart beat faster. Unknown to the bow totting girl, Yang had seriously considered using the new catnip cologne she ordered online for an occasion like this. In the end though, thinking about the potentially disastrous consequences of that idea, Yang resorted to wearing her typical perfume, something she knew Blake liked a lot, her partner having already told her so before.

Untangling herself from their original position, Blake's arms move around Yang's sides before they stopped and held onto her back. The part faunus felt Yang's arms wrap around her bare shoulders and she sighed happily. Blake really loved moments like this. Something about masked, suited men, or in this case, women, really suckered Blake in.

Blake felt safe in this embrace. She felt warm, wanted. Blake didn't want to leave this place, ever again, but at some point she knew that she must. All good things came to an end after all. For now though, there was still plenty of time to enjoy this moment, and that's what the part faunus planned to do.

“Happy Halloween, Blakey,” Yang said, giving her a gentle peck on the top of the head.

Blake's bow twitched, a soft purr escaping Blake's throat, causing the blonde to chuckle. The part faunus nuzzled against her partner's neck again, sighing happily. “Happy Halloween, Yang.”

***

Of all the holidays and traditions Vale had, by far, Halloween had to be the strangest. For a one Blake Belladona, that is.

From encouraged candy begging, to enforced cosplaying and dancing, such a tradition really made no sense to the part faunus. But then there was laughter, and precious moments with friends. There were smiles and the smaller, quieter moments one couldn't but enjoy. So while Vale had some really weird things to celebrate, Blake questioning the validity of them at times, she couldn't deny that sometimes, just sometimes, the strange was not so strange after all.