Illusions:
There I stood, staring her down, our eyes locked together. Neither of us moved a muscle, but we readied our weapons. I call out to her.
"Sister! Your views have been fogged by her illusions, they're all lies!" I shout, but my adversary shakes her head, and points at me calmly.
"No." She says, looking at the floor, shadow covering her face. "It is you who's views are clouded, she would never dare steer me wrong." She tells me, and looks up at me slowly, her eyes glinting in the moonlight that poured through the windows. "You have always misguided me! Always, and you shall forever should I continue to follow you!" She bellows in response, and she charges at me. I bring my fists up again, and roll to my right as a volley of bullets soar past my head.
"Please. You don't understand, they'll destroy the kingdoms if you continue to believe in her." I reply to the angered girl, who growls at me.
"Don't speak to me!" She cries out, and vanishes only to appear on the other side of the room. I walk over to her slowly, looking at her carefully.
"Please Sis. You have to lis-!" I try to tell her, but she interrupts me mid-sentence by delivering a short punch to my gut.
"Shut UP!" She shouts and vanishes again, but this time a door flies open. "Aaagh!" I hear an enraged scream come from her in the next room, and I dash through the door. To my surprise, I see her curled up in a corner, hands over her ears like a child who doesn't want to listen. I can hear short choked sobs coming from her, and I kneel down next to her. "Who... Who are you?" She asks semi-consciously, and I chuckle quietly.
"It's me. Your sister. It's Yang." I tell her, and she begins to talk again before stopping herself. "Ruby... Ruby?" I ask her, but get no response. "Ruby?" I shake her, and hear a snore emanating from her. She mutters something inaudible, and shuffles, turning herself to face the wall. I laugh slightly, and stand up from the younger girl, looking down at her. I hear the thuds of soldiers coming from a room or two away, and I look up at the skylight in the ceiling, before checking my watch. Faintly, I hear someone shouting.
"I think she went this way." I listen, and I take another look at my watch. I pull down a small microphone headset, and I turn it on.
"Hey, uh... Blake, I could really do with that extraction right now, over." I whisper into it, as I hear the footsteps proceeding into a nearer room.
"What was that Yang? Could you repeat, over?" Blake replies, and I sigh as the footsteps come ever nearer to where I am standing.
"I said that I need that extraction now, I'm under the skylight, over." I tell her, and I wait for her confirmation.
"Roger that Yang, I'm incoming to your co-ords in the Kestrel, over." She answers, and I sigh with relief. I look around the room, and up at the skylight, waiting for the Kestrel to appear above me.
"Note to self. Buy a faster airship." I mutter, and then I hear the familiar humming of my personal airship. A ladder drops down, smashing through the skylight as planned, and I grab on. "Pull me up, Blake." I say, and the ladder starts to make it's way back up to the airship.
Once on-board, I walk to the cockpit to meet Blake. I push the door open, and she looks over her shoulder, and smiles at me.
"Hey Blakey. Ya miss me?" I ask cockily, a grin on my face as I take my seat next to her. I see her shake her head, but her face still holds a smile.
"If it makes you feel better, then sure, I missed you." She replies sarcastically, and our airship sped off from the building we had just been above. I laugh, and grin at her again.
"I knew you did." I say, and I see the mountain coming up. We slow down, and I see the hangar doors opening, and we head on in.
When climb out of the Kestrel, and I grin when I see another blonde walking towards us. He smiles at us, his arms held out wide. I bring him into a short, but crushing embrace, and I hear him let out a small squeak.
"Hey you two. Any news on 'em?" Jaune asks us, and Blake looks at me before I speak up.
"I didn't see Weiss, Pyrrha, or Sun. However, I did see Ruby, and I think I got through to her slightly. She suffered the average mental age regression before she fell unconscious, so the usual." I inform him, and he sighs.
"Damn, I really thought we get one of 'em back this time. And especially you and Ruby, so far, you've made the largest effect on her. I just... I really thought we get at least one back this time." He said disappointedly, and I pat his shoulder.
"Hey. It's fine, we can always try again. There's no giving up, they can't keep believing in their illusions." I reply, and Jaune nods, smiling again. "Anyway, I'mma go get some rest, capiche?" I say, and both him and Blake nod. "OK. Night guys." I say, and head out of the hangar, to my bedroom.
Blake and I watch as Yang walks away, and the door closes slowly behind her. Blake looks at me, a grim smile on her face. I speak up, trying to spark a conversation with the quiet faunus.
"Do... Do you think we'll ever get them back?" I ask her, and I hear her sigh.
"I don't know. I hope we do. It hasn't been the same since they left. But, at this moment, I don't know." She replies calmly, looking out of the hangar, at the city of Vale in the distance. "But I don't think that's the real question. I think the real question is, should we be trying to get them back. We could just stop them." She says, still looking at Vale. I shrug.
"I dunno. I guess I just want my friends back again. We want our friends back again, that's why we're trying." I answer, and stand next to her, looking down at Vale, and the remnants of Beacon Academy.
"We're trying to get our old lives back." She begins, and pauses. "When really, you can never have your old life. You can only have the life you have now. No matter how good or bad. That's what you have, and you should cherish it with all that you can." Blake says sadly, and she walks away. "Goodnight Jaune." She informs me bluntly, and leaves the hangar.
"Well. Goodnight." I reply as I watch her leave, and now I'm stood alone. I sit down, my legs dangling over the edge of the hangar. "Why'd they choose me to lead them. Why not Coco? Or maybe Sage. But no, the leader of the Vale Rebels has to be me, Jaune Arc." I mutter to myself. "If only Ruby were here. She'd know what to do. She was a good team leader. Or maybe Pyrrha. But, yet again, no. They had to been the ones who were taken by them." I say, and stand up from the edge. "Well. Time to sleep for me. I'm starting to talk myself." I mumble, and leave the hangar.
Hey guys. This will be a story updated every week or so as I already have two different stories to update. But I always come up with different ideas, and I have to write them as they feel like they'll be a good one. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter of Illusions. Remember that Constructive Criticism is always useful, and keep moving forward!
Stinger out!