Yang gasped for breath. Her body was on fire, both figuratively and literally. She could tell Ruby was calling for her. She couldn't hear anything over the roar of the fire in her ears but she could tell. Ruby, Weiss and Blake lay in crumpled heaps behind her. Crescent Rose was snapped in two. Gambol Shroud was crushed beyond use. Myrtenaste exploded leaving Weiss without her left hand.
In front of her was a large Grimm. Her vision was wavy from the heat. Even if she could have seen it she wouldn't have recognized it. She was the only one standing between that thing and her team. In this moment she finally understood what Summer was thinking on her last mission. With that thought also came the regret of never finding her own mom. A small demerit for saving the lives of the three closest people to her.
"Ruby." Yang yield. "I'm sorry. Tell dad I'm sorry. Tell everyone I'm sorry. There's no running from this one."
The fire dulled and Yang could hear again. She looked back. She saw Ruby leaning against a tree, both her legs were bent in ways they shouldn't. She was crying and calling out to her big sister. Blake struggled to hold her head up to watch her. her bow was gone as well as one of her cat ears, blood covered half her face. Weiss was clutching the stump that was her left hand. They were all terrified.
Yang was the only one left standing. Her semblance was the only reason why. Every hit she took bypassed her aura and reinforced her. But it was costing her. each hit turned to heat and she was well past overheating. Even if the Grimm fell dead or ran away she wouldn't survive. Her internal organs were cooked and she would die.
Yang slammed her fist together and a pillar of fire erupted twenty feet tall. Her eyes glowed red and her teeth grit. She rushed the Grimm and slammed her fist into it. A sound like thunder roared through forest. The Grimm went flying, but yang didn't let up. She was out of shells, so she was grounded. She chased it and continued to hit it. Twenty punches later the Grimm was a pile of mashed meat.
But Yang was not completely unscathed. A gash from the Grimm's claw ran from her right temple to her left arm pit. Every bone in her hand was broken. Along with all of her ribs. She had a white spine from the Grimm where her left eye used to be.
She made her way back to where the others where. Blake was still a crumpled heap. Weiss passed out from blood loss. Ruby had cried to the point where she ran out of tears. She went to Weiss first. She unwrapped the crude bandage made from her jacket. It revealed hanging strips of flesh and sharp pieces of bone. "This will hurt princess." Yang said softly as she hand over the stump. Yang breathed in and concentrated, a bright yellow flame erupted in her hand cauterizing the wound. Yang then picked up the small white haired girl and brought her to lay next to Ruby.
Next was blake. "Are you okay kitty?" Yang asked.
"Yang." Blake began to cry. "Yang I'm so sorry. I'm your partner. I should have. Should have." Blake sobbed.
"There was nothing to do." Yang said picking up her partner. "We all die one day. I'm just dying today."
Yang brought her and set her down next to Ruby. Then sat down facing them.
"Yang." Ruby began.
"No." Yang interrupted her younger sister. "I'm not going to make it. So just do me a favor. Smile? I always loved your smile." Yangs vision was all but gone. She could only make out Ruby's shape. She couldn't tell if her sister was actually smiling.
"Okay." Ruby gave a quivering and inconvincing smile.
"That's my sis." Yang's voice faded. Her face was frozen with her cocky smile full of bravado. Her chest stop moving in shaky breaths. She was gone.
Ruby and Blake both cried.
