It was a beautiful day. The calm sea reflected the setting sun, the sky with more colors than a painter's palette. Yang breathed in the cool air from the deck of a modest cargo ship. The ship carried a rather large amount of dust, and was owned and operated by the Schnee Dust Company. Yang had been hired to guard the ship; the SDC was becoming nervous, as the number of raids on their shipments had seen a spike in recent days. The blonde-haired fighter was not overly worried, but a job was a job, and she'd be damned if she let anything happen to her ship.
A dot appeared on the horizon. Yang watched as it slowly expanded, her eyes widening when the sound of a propeller reached her ears. Quickly, she retreated to the side of the main cabin opposite the approaching aircraft and pressed herself against it. A minute passed, the sound only becoming louder, until she was certain it was hanging right over the center of the boat. She vaguely heard a female voice issuing what sounded like orders under the deafening roar of the aircraft. Cautiously, Yang poked her head around the corner of the cabin to regard the unknown party. She saw a large helicopter with open doors. Inside the helicopter were several men and one woman. All of the men, as well as the helicopter, bore the insignia of a red tiger's head with a claw slash through it. A few soldiers had already dropped down onto the deck.
"White fang," Yang whispered to herself with a grimace, "of course." Yang was not opposed to the idea of a fight, but she had been hopeful that her trip would be uneventful. She took a deep breath, and activated Ember Celica. Once her gauntlets were fully transformed, she checked that they were fully loaded with standard shells. She closed her eyes and took one more breath, and then dashed out from her hiding place.
Before they could react, the blonde-haired fighter had knocked out one grunt with a forceful slug to the back of the head, and sent another one flying off of the ship with a flying kick, added momentum courtesy of her weapon. Every single soldier turned to look at her, expressions of shock and surprise visible even with the masks they wore.
"Come get some!" challenged Yang.
The nearest soldier scowled and dashed at her with a naked saber. Yang blocked his downward strike and responded with several fiery jabs that left him rolling on the deck of the ship in pain. The six remaining White Fang fanned out around the girl, looking for an opening.
Three down and they're already on the defensive, Yang thought to herself with a smirk.
From the helicopter above, a raven-haired girl watched the conflict with interest. They have her completely surrounded now. This should be over soon.
Her grin widening, Yang discharged Ember Celica in the air directly in front of her as she kicked off the deck backwards. Flipping over midair, she landed a solid kick with both legs directly into the chest of the soldier behind her, sending him crashing through the cabin wall.
The girl in the helicopter's eyebrows rose as the fiery fighter quickly dispatched the remaining White Fang. Now this is getting interesting.
The sun was just passing the horizon.
Yang knelt over a nearly unconscious soldier, gripping his collar in one hand while preparing to finish him off. Something glinted in the corner of her vision. She rolled away just in time to see a strange bladed weapon secured to a long ribbon sweep right through where her head had been. It came to rest on the deck several feet behind her. Yang brought her gaze up and regarded the girl in front of her. She looked to be about 17, like Yang, and wore an… interesting black and white ensemble. She had striking amber eyes. The blonde-haired fighter stood, released the spent shells from her weapon, and proceeded to load it with projectile rounds - less useful for close quarters combat, but more effective at controlling the battlefield. As soon as Ember Celica was loaded, she heard a shot go off behind her and dive-rolled to her left. The bladed weapon again whistled harmlessly through the space she previously occupied.
So it's a gun, too, She thought, reminded of her sister's own weapon. Big surprise.
She was left little time to rest, though, as the dark-haired girl rushed at her, twirling her gunblade. The two weaved around the deck of the ship, which lightly rocked under their feet. Occasionally, Yang's opponent would land glancing blows, but was also singed several times by explosions from Yang's weapon that she could not get completely away from.
After several minutes, the two separated, both catching their breath but trying not to show weakness. They circled for what seemed like an eternity before the raven-haired girl became a blur. In the face of such a quick attack, Yang was thrown onto the defensive, hardly able to counterattack under the onslaught. During the fight, the other girl had transformed her gunblade into a more classic katana, and used that and its sheath, which was also sharpened to a razor's edge, in her relentless assault. Yang caught one opportunity and delivered an elbow to her opponent's gut. She stumbled back, and Yang used the time offered to slam her fist onto the deck beneath her, rocking the ship sharply to her side. The other girl wavered, nearly falling down, and Yang rushed in, turning the tide in her favor. This time, it was her opponent who was forced to fight defensively. Yang landed few direct hits, but she could see the dark-haired girl begin to tire. Again, though, the girl blurred. Instinct told Yang she was behind her. She jumped forward into the air, doing a front flip. In the process of the flip, time seemed to slow. She could see her opponent carrying out an upward swing with both weapons, as she had suspected. Yang pointed one gauntlet at the girl, and fired a single shot midair. She watched the girl's eyes widen in surprise.
Yang stood over her dazed opponent. She felt some respect for the other girl. Yang was a great fighter - it wasn't every day she went up against someone who could match her one-on-one. Still, she was dangerous, and had been the leader of the raid on her charge.
"I'm Yang," she said.
The other girl eyed her curiously. "Blake."
Yang nodded. "Good night, Blake."
She moved to knock the girl out with a punch to the head, but the girl's eyes teared up. Yang faltered. Her eyes widened as her legs were swept out from under her, landing flat on her back with a thud. She perceived the descending form of a black shoe, and then only darkness.
The next day
After being chewed out by her contractor and losing her pay for the mission, Yang sighed.
It was just a job.
She walked out of the guild hall and grinned.
I'm sure I'll see her again.
A/N: It was a lot of fun writing this, my first attempt at an action sequence! Let me know what you thought, and feel free to give advice and suggestions in a review. I did my best to make the scene easy to imagine; where was I successful? Where was I not? Give me any specific moments where you were confused or unable to picture the action in your head, and I will do my best to clarify it in the story. It's easy for me to imagine, but, well, I wrote it.