WARNING: Even though the rating and the genre should have clued you in by now, I still feel the need to advised the reader that this story will be horrific, more so as it goes on and more chapters are added. So if you want to back out now, here's your chance. If not, hope you enjoy the story.
Chapter one
There was a sharp knock at the door. Who now?
"Yang…can I come in," Ruby's voice asked from behind the door. It didn't matter if Yang said yes or no, she would come in regardless. Sure enough, she heard the door slowly creak open followed by footsteps making their way towards her bed.
"Sis…I'm leaving," she began, trying her best to sound determined, but Yang noted that there was some hesitation in her voice. If Ruby was waiting for her to ask where to or why, she was out of luck. She wasn't in the mood for twenty questions today. Perhaps Ruby sensed this because she continued, "We're heading to Mistral. Well, I mean Jaune, Rin, Nora, and me are heading there. Things just…just aren't improving here. In Vale I mean, things are just fine at home. Not saying that things are perfect here, it could definition improve…"
She stopped before she could screw up her words any more. This goodbye wasn't easy for Ruby, and her sister wasn't about to make it any easier for her. Trying multiple times to find the right words, Ruby finally gave up on talk and wrapped her arms around Yang, burying her face into her shoulder.
"I love you Yang," she said, doing her best to choke back a few tears she could feel welling up at the corners of her eyes. She was shocked, but pleasantly so, when she felt her sister's hand move to the back of her head as she placed a kiss on top of her head. She unburied her face to look up at Yang, who had manage some semblance of a smile.
"Stay safe out there Ruby," Yang said. Ruby nodded as she separated herself from her sister. She stood there for a moment, unsure of what to say or do next. Finally, Yang spoke up, "You should get out of here before Dad finds out…It won't make any of this easier."
Nodding for a second time, Ruby started to make her way out of the room when she stopped at the threshold. She turned back to look at Yang, biting her bottom lip as if she had something else she wanted say to but still couldn't find the words for it. Turning back around, she dashed out of the room and down the hall. Yang turned her attention back towards the window, looking out to see that Jaune and what was left of his team had assembled outside. A moment later, Ruby had exited the house and joined them. They were talking about something, what it was about Yang couldn't say, and honestly she didn't care.
Everyone leaves in the end. It's never a matter of if, but when. But there was a part of me that never thought you would, but I guess I shouldn't be surprise. Our own mothers disappeared, and when Dad shut down he was more or less gone. So walking away from it all runs in the family…I guess I was the only one stupid enough to believe that we were inseparable. So leave, I don't care anymore.
These bitter thoughts were all Yang could think of as she watched her sister disappear over the horizon with her new team, off to find who or what she didn't know she couldn't say. Maybe they would find whatever it was they were looking for, but it doubtful. Nothing that they would find out there could change what had happened here; Vale was in shambles along with many of the lives of its inhabitants, and parts of it were crawling with Grimm of every imaginable shape and size, including a half-dead dragon. Many decided to leave, believing that the city was beyond saving. But just as many decided to stay, clinging to a fading hope that through enough hard work and determination, they could restore their city to its former glory. Idiots. The smart ones were the ones that cut their losses and ran.
"Yang, do you know anything about this," Taiyang asked as he barged into her room, snapping her from her thoughts. She turned around to see that he was trembling slightly, and he was holding some type of note with Ruby's handwriting on it. He walked over and handed to her, but she didn't even have to glance over it to know what it was about. Still, she gave it a quick read and handed back to him, saying, "She's leaving, she loves us, and she'll see us soon. It's all there on the paper."
"Wh…Yeah, I know that," he said, trying to contain some of his frustration, "But I mean why. Why is she going, where, and with who?"
"Trying to find some answers, Mistral, and Jaune, Rin, and Nora," she said, moving down the checklist of his questions. Taiyang looked back down at the note, then reached into his pocket for his phone. He started to pace the room, holding the phone to his ear. It was a fool's errand if he was trying to call Ruby, because she would either let it ring out or send it straight to voice mail.
Sure enough, the first call he placed rang out to voice mail, and when he attempted a second time he was sent straight to voice mail. Letting out a frustrated sigh and looking at his phone like he wanted to chuck it out, he turned to Yang and asked, "Do you know when they left?"
"Just a bit ago, down that way," she replied, pointing with her stub of a right arm down the path they took, "If you move quick enough, you could probably catch up to them."
"No…She wouldn't come back even if I forced her to… she stubborn like that," he said, shaking his head. He looked down at the note again, then back to Yang, "Just wish she would have told me face to face instead of this is all. I wanted to say my goodbyes to."
"She didn't because she knew this is how you would act," Yang pointed out, not bothering to mask the annoyance in her voice.
"I'm her father…how else am I supposed to take it when one of my girls leaves to go to one of the far corners of the world and all they left behind is a note?" He asked.
"Take it however you want to," she said as she threw the covers off herself and hopped out of bed, walking over to her dresser. She called out from over her shoulder, "I'm heading out for a walk."
"Oh, ok. Did you need a hand to…" he began, but froze immediately when he realized his poor choice of words. She looked over her shoulder towards her father, shooting him a glare that could kill lesser men with just a glance. Sensing that he was overstaying his welcome, he quickly exited the room and closed the door behind him. She turned back to her dresser when she heard his voice from behind the door, "Dress warmly and be careful, alright."
"Will do," she called back. She couldn't rush getting ready like she used to, considering that her dominate hand was currently a pile of ashes, but she had enough practice with her left that the only part she struggled with was putting on her coat. Finally ready, she hurried out of her room and down the stairs, hoping if she was fast enough she could avoid talking to her father. No such luck.
"Hey, you want something to eat before you head out? It's hot," he called out from the kitchen. Her reply was a quick and sharp, "No."
"Ok, if you're sure. Take care and see ya in a bit," he said, turning his attention back to whatever he was making on the stove. Walking over to the front door, she took a deep breath before exiting the house. When she stepped outside, the very first thing she noticed was the stinging cold slapping her in the face. It was cold enough that she considered going back into the house to get a scarf, but decided against it because the moment she set foot back into her home, her father would try to start up another conversation.
So she looked around for a moment to figure out where she was going, then decided on a path that was an old favorite of hers. It was the same path that she and Ruby took whenever they needed to talk to each other privately; whether it was something important to discuss or just venting frustration, it didn't matter which. If one sister asked the other if they could take a walk together, the other would know instantly what she wanted. But there was no Ruby today, only a sullen looking young woman with the thoughts to match. It didn't matter much to Yang though, because at least her own thoughts wouldn't leave her behind, so they were more dependable than any person, sibling or otherwise, could ever hope to be.
As she started down the trail, she noticed that the world was unusually still; there was no wind rushing through the trees and the birds weren't singing. It was as if the outside world had decided to emulate the inner world of her thoughts. Whatever, as long as everything and everyone left her alone, she wouldn't complain. So she kept moving along the frozen path, paying the absolute nominal amount of attention to where she was going until she ran across an old memory from her childhood.
"Heh, forgot this thing was still around," she said to no one in particular, staring up at the old tree fort that she and her sister had helped build with their dad. Well, it was more like a few tiny play houses connected by rope bridges and ladders. One summer, when Yang and Ruby were only ten and eight respectively, they had come across an old field journal that their father kept from his academy days. In one of the pages was a set of drawn blueprints on how to make a quick shelter up in the trees. Piquing their interest, they asked (bugged) their father about building one, who had resisted the idea until the girls busted out their 'puppy dog eyes' stares. The next morning, their dad was drawing up blueprints for a more permanent structure, and construction began that afternoon. It took about a month and a half, give or take a few weeks, due to their father's summer job and that they weren't allowed to do any work on it when he wasn't present.
The moment they were finished Ruby dubbed the fort "Fort Brotherhood," stating that as long as it stood, their bonds of brotherhood would never break. Yang had to politely point out the problems with her choice in name, mainly anatomical ones. After Ruby took a minute to process the information, she quickly rechristen the fort "Fort Sisterhood" and gave the same speech again, slightly edited of course. Reflecting on these memories caused Yang to shake her head and sneer, "So much for that little promise."
She gave some thought to dismantling the eyesore, but decided that she wasn't going to waste her time or energy on it. With that, she started down the trail again, leaving behind the broken promise of two naïve little girls to crumble in on itself, a befitting end for the damn thing.
"Snow's picking up a bit," she noted as the snow started to come down harder, lowering her visibility enough that she couldn't quite make out the distinct markers along the trail. She thought about cutting her walk short and heading back, but what was she heading back to; to lay up in an old bed in an empty room, staring out the window waiting for the day to end so she could go to sleep, only to wake up and do it all over again? Her only reason to go back was because it was home, a warm place in a cold, uncaring world that she could feel at peace and be with her family. But at this point, what was family besides a group of individuals that were only vaguely loyal to one another due to blood relations?
"Blood is thicker than water," Yang began, reciting an old maxim. She stopped for a moment to reflect on these old words of wisdom before turning to a dead tree that was right beside her. She gave the tree a good look over, then sent it crashing to the forest floor with a left hook. She turned her left hand over to look at it, noting that a few specks of blood had managed to seep through her knuckles. As she wiped the blood off onto her coat, she finished her prior thought, "All that means is that it leaves a bigger mess to clean up in the end."
Not wanting to dwell on what the meaning of family actually was, or if it even had a meaning at this point, she continued forward. Eventually, she had reached the end of the trail, the only thing beyond the path was the unending sea of trees. So her options were to turn back and start on another trail or head home. But what was the point, for eventually it would all equal out to the same in the end. She would go back to hide in her room from a world that was hostile to her very existence, hating her for one moment of lashing out, and that wasn't even her fault. She was attacked from behind, and she broke that little sucker puncher's leg for his troubles.
Whatever… she helped protect the world by exterminating the Grimm, and the world rewarded her with its contempt. Her service as a huntress meant nothing, not even to those she had called comrades at one point. Most of her schoolmates wouldn't look her in the eyes anymore, and the ones that would were long gone by now. Pyrrha died, sacrificing herself for a world that despised her even more than it despised Yang, all so that portions of Vale could still be inhabited…by people that hated her. A vicious cycle, one more reason that the world could go cold. Pyrrha's old team was off gallivanting with her sister to the other side of the continent, trying to find…whatever the hell it was that they were looking for. They probably didn't even know, leaving on a lark that maybe they would stumble across something useful, a fool's errand if there ever was one. Weiss was taken back to Atlas by her father, who by all accounts was such an overbearing, tyrannical jackass that caused her to leave home in the first place. And Blake…
"RWAH!" Yang screamed out as she drilled the nearest tree with a right hook. Well, that was the plan at least, but the stub that used to be her right arm was shaking pathetically in front of her, reminding her of the futility of her actions. Oddly, this sight did little to improve her mood.
"STUPID…FREAKING…TREE!" She bellowed as she struck the tree repeatedly, reducing it to a pile of splinters. As her entire body was shaking in pure rage, she started ranting at the pile of splinters like a woman possessed, "THAT'S RIGHT YOU WORTHLESS BITCH, JUST KEEP RUNNING! I HOPE BOTH YOUR LEGS BREAK SO YOU HAVE TO CRAWL AWAY LIKE THE FUCKING COWARD YOU ARE!"
She stormed forward in a blind rampage, annihilating any conifer that dared to get into her way. She didn't realize where she was going, and if she did she couldn't care less. All she cared about was venting her fury on the next living thing that had the misfortune of crossing her path. After what seemed like an eternity, she had calmed down enough to realize that she was in the middle of the woods without any recognizable landmarks or features to tell her where she was. In short, she was lost. Trying to gather her bearings, she heard something that sounded like flowing water off in the distance. Figuring it was better than wondering aimlessly trying to find her way back to a trail, she started to head toward the noise. As she drew closer to the noise, the more the trees would thin out, eventually leading to a clearing where the stream was located.
Stepping out of forest into the clearing, she recognized instantly where she was. It was a place where her family had camped and fished at many times before, mainly when she was younger. She also remembered that there was a trail that would lead directly back to her house, but she was only vaguely aware of where said trail was in the clearing. She started to scan her surroundings, trying to locate through the snow which trail she was supposed to go on, but quickly stopped when she spotted something, or someone, perched on top of a small boulder that was leaning up against a tree.
She moved closer to take another look, and she was able to confirm it was indeed a person. The individual was quite tiny, possible even a child, with long hair that bright pink on one half and brown on the other. They were wearing a white coat that was absolutely shredded, like they were mauled by a Grimm and had managed to escape.
"Hey, are you alright?" Yang asked as she moved closer to the person to see if they wanted any help. The only response the individual gave was a small shake of their head and a wispy, raspy kind of noise. From what Yang could tell by looking over the individual and what she heard, the person was probably a young teenage girl, maybe even younger than Ruby, and she most likely wondered into the woods without any thought to where she was going.
"Freaking idiot should have known better," Yang whispered to herself as she moved next to the mystery person. Whoever it was, they were definitely in pain and need medical attention immediately. There was little Yang could do for her here except offer her coat and escort the person back to her father, who could patch her up enough to move her to a hospital. If she couldn't walk, then Yang could at least carry her on her back. Either way, Yang couldn't, in good conscious, leave her out here, even if she was in the situation due to her own stupidity. She remembered that she too was lost once in these woods due to her impulsiveness, a situation that almost cost her and her sister their lives.
"Don't worry, I can help you," Yang said gently, placing her hand on the person's shoulder, only to quickly retract it when she realized how soaking wet the person's coat was. The tiny girl shook her head again, not bothering to turn around. Yang reasoned that she was probably confused and in near shock from hypothermia, considering how cold it was outside and that she was most likely soaked head to toe, given the state of her coat.
"We need to get you…" Yang began as she walked to face the individual, only to freeze midsentence when she realized who it was. Perched on the rock, hugging her knees was Torchwick's psychotic little goon, the same one that almost killed Yang back on that train. She looked up at Yang, one eye silvery gray and the other covered in bandages, an expression of sorrow on her face. She was breathing in short, sallow breaths, her lips a pale shade of blue. Her clothes were in the same state as her coat; tattered and barely held together by the shredded fabric. Her overall appearance was gaunt and emaciated, like she had been lost in the wilderness for months now. Yang wasn't entirely sure how to response, considering she was almost killed by her, and that's when she had two functioning arms. But, it didn't look like the little thug was in any shape to put up much of a fight either.
"Why in the hell are you here?!" Yang finally growled out. The little psycho didn't respond, not verbally at least. Still looking up at Yang, her eye color changed from silvery-gray to brown before settling at pink.
"That's not an answer," Yang snarled. The little psycho continued to stare up at Yang, her gaze eventually drifting from her face over to the stub that was formally Yang's right arm.
"Come to finish the job, or you just here to admire one of your bastard friend's handiwork?" Yang asked, shaking her stub for good measure. Another shake of the head, another round of changing eye color from the psycho perched on the rock. Losing what little patience she had at this point, Yang grabbed her by her beaded necklace and lifted her in the air with one fluid motion. Shaking her a little, Yang commanded, "Tell me why you're here now, or I'm going to lay into you!"
"Roman… is dead," she replied, her voice barely more than raspy whisper, the look on her face suggested that it hurt to talk.
"Torchwick? Yeah, he's dead alright. Heard a Grimm swooped down and swallowed him whole. Hope the poor thing didn't get indigestion," Yang said, giggling a bit to rub it in.
"He… was my friend," she said as her head started to hang downwards. This did little to garner much compassion from Yang, who responded with snort. The little psycho looked back up at her and replied, "He really was."
"Oooooh, I'm so, so sorry for your lost," Yang said in mock sympathy. She looked around in an over exaggerated manner before asking, "But, where are all your other friends? Did you lose them to, or did they not need little miss right height anymore?"
"They can… choke on their own blood… and burn," She replied forcefully. Perhaps too forcefully, because the next moment she started to winch in pain and clutch her ribs.
"Well, I guess we agree on something then," Yang said. She thought for a moment before asking, "You got a name?"
"Ne...Neo," she wheezed out, still clutching her side.
"Well, Neo, I know how you feel. I had a friend who recently passed away to. Her name was Pyrrha, and your friend was responsible for it," Yang snarled, "Now that I think about, you and your buddies are responsible for a lot of dead people."
She didn't respond verbally, only more changing eye color and looks of dejection. Yang brought her closer, their faces only a few inches apart as she asked in a low, harsh whisper, "Give me one reason, just one, why I shouldn't kill you right now?"
"I don't care… anymore…Roman is dead," Neo replied as she shook her head.
"Well, if you don't care, I don't see any reason why I should either," Yang replied. She looked at Neo, then to the tree that was next to where they were standing when an idea popped into her head. Yang looked back at Neo, and with a glint of malice flashing in her eyes, she slammed her right into the tree, creating a loud snapping sound and causing Neo to emit a yelp of pain. Yang wasn't sure if that snapping noise was Neo's spine, the tree breaking, or even both. They weren't necessarily mutually exclusive after all. The next moment, she had her answer as she watched the tree fall over. She looked back to Neo to see that her face was contorted in aguish as she was breathing in short, sharp gasps.
[You shouldn't be doing this,] a small voice said from somewhere in the back of Yang's head. She shook it off, reasoning that whatever happened to the little psycho pinned was justified. Neo was the one with blood on her hands, not the other way around.
"You care…" Yang began, only to be interrupted by Neo hacking up some kind of greenish-yellow mucus onto Yang's hand and forearm.
"EWWW!" She screamed in disgust out as she dropped Neo to the ground. Looking at the slime that was covering her good, and only, arm, she could feel the urge to crush Neo's skull right there on the spot. She looked over to her target, who was currently resting on her elbows and knees, trying to regain the breath that was knocked out of her. Wiping the gunk off her arm into the snow, Yang walked over to where Neo was sprawled out and placed her foot on the back of her head, ready to end it here, only to reconsider at the last minute. Why should she show any mercy to her now, considering what she had done? Instead, Yang proceeded to line her foot up with Neo's side. When she felt that she had the right angle, she stepped back a few paces before rushing up to punt Neo right in the ribs. She watched as she sent the little psycho flying across the clearing, feeling a wave of satisfaction wash over her when she witness Neo hit the ground with a large thud.
[You need to stop. This isn't right,] the small voice pleaded. Yang shook it off again, agitated that her conscious, or whatever the hell it was, was trying to spare that monster. That little psycho wasn't much better than the Grimm that Yang had hunted down, and she could argue that she was significantly worse. Besides, the world would be better off if she perished right here.
"Better hope you're dead before I get over there," Yang said as she started a slow march to where Neo had crash landed. The sadistic glee that was coursing through Yang's body was intoxicating, the best that she had felt in months. It was if the world had finally decided that it was done toying with her, and as a reward she could unleash her wrath against one of the individuals responsible for everything that had happen to her over the past several months. When she finally made it to the landing zone, she was somewhat disappointed that Neo was still clinging to life. But it was of little matter to Yang, for she could solve that problem quickly.
"Any last words…beside gasp wheeze of course," Yang asked sweetly as she knelt down beside her. Neo stared back up at her with a look of terror in her eye, gasping for air and crying out in pain each time she did so. Sensing that she was near her end, Yang brought her hand to Neo's throat and started to close off her air supply. Yang stared her directly in the eye, wanted to see that look of desperation in her eye as the life faded slowly from her body, all the while praying it was the most terrifying moment of her miserable existence.
[WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!] The voice in the back of her head roared, causing Yang to immediately release her grip on Neo's throat. It was like she had awaken from a terrible nightmare; her entire body was shaking and breaking out into a cold sweat, her mind racing through all the thoughts that had been present only moments prior. She felt like she was going to be sick.
"What is wrong with me?" Yang asked herself as she examined her hand before looking at her victim again. Neo was coughing and gasping for what little air she could get into her lungs, tears running down one side of her face and soaking her bandages on the other. Almost instinctively, Yang reached down to wipe the tears away from Neo's good eye, who flinched out of fear of being attacked again. Yang shook her head at the damage she caused, shocked that she was actually capable of such cruelty. She was no better than the person beside her…no, she was worse. At least Neo had the decency to attack someone who could fight back. Yang couldn't say the same about herself, not anymore at least. Taking off her coat, Yang laid it beside Neo and then rolled her onto it. It was fairly easy; Neo offered little resistance and she couldn't have weighed any more than seventy pounds. After she was wrapped up and secured, Yang hoisted her onto her shoulders and started off towards home.
"Where…are you…taking me?" Neo asked between breaths, still recovering from Yang's assault.
"To my house. My dad will patch you up, then we'll take you to a hospital from there," Yang said. She wasn't exactly sure what she had said to set Neo off, but the next thing Yang knew was she had a banshee screaming in her ear and trashing around on her shoulders, sending both of them tumbling into the snow. Yang sprang to her feet, the urge to kill Neo surging through her again. She looked over to where the little menace had landed, noticing that she had hacked up some more of that greenish-yellow slime.
"Care to explain why in the hell you did that?" Yang asked, glaring at her.
"No…no hospitals," Neo said, an expression of dread plastered on her face.
"Fine, no hospitals," Yang said, not wanting to argue. She walked over to where Neo had landed and hoisted her back on her shoulders. Looking over her shoulders, Yang snarled at her, "You send me into the snow again and you can freakin' crawl, you got me?!"
Giving the faintest hint of a nod that she understood, they continued onwards. A few minutes into the trip, Neo let out a tiny yelp. Annoyed, Yang looked over her shoulder to ask, "What are you whining about now?"
"My ribs…they hurt," she said, winching a bit.
"I'd imagine so, considering I punted you halfway across a field. I was there, and so weren't you. Those were some good times," Yang said sarcastically. She slowed down her pace just a tad so that her passenger would
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Alright everybody, I had to take some liberties with the characters' personalities because the ending to season three changed up the direction quite a bit, so I'm making educated guesses on how the characters personalities would change in response.
Hoped you're enjoying yourself so far, and if you have the time, please leave a comment. I appreciate any and all constructive criticism I can get, for it helps me put out higher quality stories for ya'll to enjoy. Once again, please and thank you.