Atlas? Really? My eyes fluttered open for the first time in weeks. I wasn't sure what was going on, and the room was dark. I looked around, able to adjust a bit. Thank god it was about 2 am, or else I'd be staring at absolutely blinding light. No one wants that when they wake up. I thought I heard movement off to my left, but that was about it. And even then…I was just so exhausted that I passed right back out. Hell of a way to start off, eh?
When I woke up the next morning, I couldn't see shit. Yep, there's the blinding light I was expecting. All I saw was a hazy black outline and those beautiful piercing yellow eyes over me. "Yang? Can you hear me?" I couldn't manage to speak, and instead nodded to the sound of her voice. I desperately needed a drink. Water, at least. God I hate water. Milk would be good, in an ideal world a strawberry sunrise, but obviously the world wasn't ideal anymore.
Blake sighed and nodded. "Good…I'm glad." My eyes began to adjust; I saw the bandages covering Blake's torso. Evidently from the stab wound I had heard. That's when the memories began to come back to me. That heart wrenching scream, the sound of steel meeting flesh. I never got to see the wound that Adam had inflicted on Blake, I just assumed the worst. The most terrifying part was that it was Blake. It could have been Weiss, maybe even Ruby, and I wouldn't have been as enraged as she was. Maybe for Ruby, she is my little sister after all, someone I was out to protect but…Blake was different.
Blake snapped me back to reality, noticing what must have been distance in my eyes. "Listen, Yang, you need to know something okay? I'm here for you, but I need you to check your arm, Okay?" My eyes widened and I slowly shifted my gaze. Cold, lifeless steel met it. I screamed, trying to rip myself out of bed and yank this…this…thing off of me! I couldn't bear the sight; I couldn't bear the pain. "Get it off! Please! Blake, help me!"
Blake was trying not to cry, holding down her teammate and partner. She was screaming for someone to help, but I could barely hear her. The shock had to be affecting me. Then some doctors rushed in and I found myself out cold again. This time though, I dreamed.
I dreamed of what would have happened if I hadn't made it in time. I watched Adam stand over Blake, I watched him…do things to her. Chanting over and over that he loved her, that she was his darling. It was disgusting. When I charged forward to attack him, I saw that my arm was gone. I was so enraged though…I'd just attack with the other! When I lunged forward, that was gone too. I went for a kick and fell out from under a now dismembered leg. I was nothing but a torso, and still looked on in horror, screaming for him to back away from her. Then those words that rang through my mind. "I'll destroy everything you love…starting with her."
As Adam raised his sword, I sat up screaming. Blake jumped from her spot on the visitor's chair, prepared to help me if I needed it. But no, I was just gasping for air, trying to clutch my forehead, but I ended up smacking myself in the face with the metallic arm instead. Too much force, I suppose. This gave me the first chance to look at my arm though. Silver as Ruby's eyes, but without so much of an ounce of the life that danced in them. No joy, no sadness, no nothing. Just a soulless machine.
Blake sat next to me, holding the hand that was still there. I shuddered and looked down at the other, refusing to meet Blake's gaze. "I couldn't save you." I finally said in a defeated tone. It was a tone that didn't suit me. It didn't belong in my voice. "I'm a miserable failure, and I couldn't save you." I wasn't expecting what came next as Blake grabbed my chin, forcing me to meet her gaze. Blake wasn't usually so assertive about this.
"Please shut up." I blinked in confusion at the contrast in Blake's tone and expression. "You didn't let me down Yang, you're the reason I'm here." She pulled me forward and embraced me, drawing a deep blush.
"But…I didn't save you! I just jumped in and he-" Blake cut me off before I could say it. Heh…puns. "Yang, do you realize how many White Fang members you took out trying to save me? You're the reason we were able to escape that psychopath, otherwise I never would have been able to run with you like I did." I sighed and looked back down at my new arm. I tried to grip the sheets and failed miserably at it. This was going to suck, but…maybe it was time for one of my famous jokes? Just to show Blake that I was okay? "Well I guess that makes me pretty awesome, right?" I asked hopefully. Wow, smooth move Xiao Long. It's almost like you haven't been in a coma for who knows how long. Oh shit, right, I was.
Blake faked a smile though. "Super cool." She said, clinging to me tightly. I thought I heard purring, but…Blake doesn't purr, right? Part of me kind of hoped that she did, or else this could be super racist. "So…he…didn't hurt you right?" I asked, terrified that my dream had actually occurred. She looked me in the eyes and shook her head. "No…just a stab wound but it's mostly healed up already. You…got the worse of it."
I looked down again, sighing. "You weren't even involved…he's my crazy ex, and yet you're the one he hurt." A horrific image shot through my mind, the last thing I'd seen before I passed out. Adam lopping off Blake's head like she meant nothing, but she was right here. Must be her semblance…Blake was always crafty like that.
I rolled my eyes and put a hand on Blake's cheek. "True, but I'm the one who jumped in like an idiot with my arm out like that. I think I got off easy." As terrifying as the thought was, I was just being honest. Then I jumped. Someone was in the doorway, clearing his throat. "Ms. Belladonna, Ms. Xiao Long." I looked up and saw just about the last person I'd expected. General James Ironwood.