Yang did not know how to build an airfield.

That's why she had Blake and Weiss work on it with her through last night. It was a proposal to build an airfield, with a dirt runway and two closed hangars. Each hangar would be big enough to house twenty Bullheads VTOL craft. All in all, a very simple proposal were it not for the fact that it really came out of nowhere in the midst of Yang's dreaming. Quite literally, Yang woke up Blake and Weiss with such vigor and gusto, people would have thought she had invented self-replicating dust in her sleep. Unfortunately, when trying to explain the idea to Blake and Weiss, it did not come out as eloquently as she thought it would. Worse still, Ruby was unfortunately collateral damage, but the little sister took it in stride. She knew the risks of bunking with Yang.

On the topic of eloquence however, Blake and Weiss were quite handy in making the idea come to life. Where Yang would stumble, pause, hesitate, or just blurt out random topics, the two were there to translate and interpret it into something comprehensible. And what came about was the Yang Xiao Long Totally Awesome and Cool Airfield (though for her presentation today, it was shortened to just Xiao Long Airfield). The rough sketch of it that Blake drew on a poster was ready, the budgetary concerns listed on lots and lots of paper were ready from Weiss, and all that was left now was to convince Professor Ozpin and the rest of the Beacon Faculty to build it. On her insistence, Yang was to be alone in presenting it, feeling that if this idea were to crumble, she wouldn't bring the others down with her. She was the type of person who if she were on a sinking ship, she would go down with it to give the others a chance to escape. Of course, that particular analogy to Yang was sort of fruitless, considering the fact that going down with the ship meant she wouldn't get to live.

Still, alone in presentation. Yang considered herself confident, usually led groups in public speaking, never one to shy away from a lecture to her sister or to her fellow teammates. Once she even had to suffer through an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction which only served to speed up her presentation. Public speaking was like fighting Grimm: easy mode.

And thus, when she was at bat to speak in Professor Ozpin's office to the entire faculty, she was quick to start: "... with a Yang!"

Professor Port snickered, immediately getting himself together.

Beyond that, silence.

Yang quickly gathered her bearings, pressing down her immaculate school uniform. She got rid of the gloves, she pulled her skirt down some, even wore pantyhose today as well. She had to look the part of a model student if she wanted to build this airfield, and so far she at least resembled it. "Okay. Um." Yang twiddled her fingers. It was fine usually speaking to her fellow students, all of them knew her and she knew them. Usually when she was up to speaking to them as part of a project, she saw faces of anticipation and friendliness and joy.

Beyond Professor Ozpin's merely comforting smirk, everybody looked like they wanted to give Yang a big fat F. No mercy, no sources cited, just plain F's everywhere.

"So." Yang clasped her hands behind her back, putting on the best smile she can. "I would like to propose the construction of..." Wait, she needed her hands. She quickly picked up the huge poster rolled up and quickly unraveled it for all of them to see. Of course, there were several dozen Professors, some many in the back struggled to make out what was even drawn. And to be completely fair as well, Blake spent her time protesting and fighting for the White Fang, not learning how to draw. The rough sketch of the airfield looked more like something Ruby would draw when she was five and high on a sugar rush. Yang grinned widely. "An Airfield!" She looked out to the audience. She needed to pick out the particular ones.

First was Professor Port. He was pulling out his mustache, quirking his eyebrow and regarding the poster (and Yang) with an amount of concentration. Compared to most of the other Professors Yang didn't have, he looked positively interested in the venture. And for good reason, despite his stature and his braggart ways, the man himself was something of an adventurer. Airfields to him recalled days of barnstorming and watching pioneer aviators take their craft to the sky to fight the winged Grimm like the Nevermore or even the vaunted Queen Roc.

Then was Professor Oobleck-

Wait. Where was Professor Oobleck? Yang looked to her right to see her budget concerns quickly taken from her. Rude! They immediately ended up in the hands of...

Professor Goodwitch. Out of everyone else, she looked the most unamused by the proposal set forth by Yang. Normally she'd tolerate Yang roughing up a student here and there, running down a Grimm onto Beacon territory, or just being well... Yang. But the fact remained is that this was a venture that seemed out there even for Yang. This seemed like a venture that seemed out there even for Professor Ozpin, who happened to be the one carrying a cup of coffee around all the time. There was a good reason why this proposal was as sound and stable as a thread holding a brick. Beacon didn't need an airfield, it already had a dock for the Bullheads and the Ferries, which long since put older aircraft that needed runways obsolete. The very idea of an airfield with a runway and hangars was sort of like building a stone castle in Beacon's backyard because it was retro. And that was what basically everyone thought of it, retro.

And to Professor Goodwitch, retro was not in. "Now, this airfield I know, crazy idea. But! Beacon is founded on crazy ideas! Why, if you remember the tales of the Great Huntsmen who didn't have the luxury of Dust to help them fight Grimm, they had to go through really really stupid ideas before Dust even became a thing! The automatic catapult, the Mirror Scorch, the Taker of Cities! All of these incredibly crazy ideas which humanity-" She paused, then glanced at Professor Jackdaw, "- and faunus, used to inspire themselves even further with the discovery of Dust. And with Dust, came innovation. The airplane and the airship was built to be our ticket to level the playing field with the Grimm, to show them humans could fly too! And what better way to celebrate that innovation, by building a tribute to those pioneering aviators and building this airfield! So who's with me!?" Yang opened up her arms, giving a wide grin to finish.

Silence.

Yang's grin shook a little. Awkward.

Professor Goodwitch raised her hand. "Are you taking questions?" Yang nodded, resuming to a position of submission to her professors. "I've looked over this budgetary report. The requisition of appropriate materials, the moving of Earth to create the airfield, and I noticed that you don't have costs to hire workers to build this."

Yang shook her head. "Oh, no, I was planning on having volunteers build this in their own time."

Goodwitch's face could not be described any more than, "Really?" She nodded gently. "Okay then," she says. "So, beyond the non-expense of your volunteers. You know that in order for Beacon to fund this proposal, we would have to take a very large loan." Yang nodded. "Very large." Yang nodded again. "A loan so large that if we were to default on it, we would lose this airfield and this entire venture would be completely at a loss. Yes?" Yang again, nodded. "Alright..." Goodwitch leaned back in her seat, crossing her legs. "Miss Xiao Long, I know this may be your first business venture and clearly you are not taking any of our many economics classes. You must understand that there isn't any profit to be built in this airfield. Do you understand that?" Yang paused, unsure of what to say, trying to figure out even and only making herself look a little idiotic. "I see. Now." Goodwitch handed the report off to her fellow Professor. "The issue, Miss Xiao Long, is that we already have the field that you want to build this airfield on, reserved for a special open air training ground, in a further expansion of Beacon's campus in preparation for more incoming students for next year, and we expect many students enrolled next year. We have built dorms, more teaching facilities, the works. The idea of building an airfield which serves no practical purpose, in an area where space is already at a premium, demonstrates a level of ineptitude and incompetence that borders on imbecilic. Do you understand?"

Ouch. Yang bit her lip, frowning. Goodwitch raised her brow up, expecting the answer. Yang nodded. "Y-, yeah I do."

"Good." Professor Goodwitched crossed her arms.

And there came a tap from Professor Ozpin's cane. "Perhaps we can discuss this idea over a recess and a nice cup of coffee." All the Professors immediately stood up, beginning to walk out Ozpin's door.

Professor Port came up to a very beaten and defeated Yang. Yang knew that Professor Goodwitch could be harsh, but never understood how harsh. It was like getting hit by a freight train ten times over. "For what it's worth, Miss Xiao Long," declared Professor Port, "I believe your idea may have merit. Just needs funding and a good brain behind it." He quirks his brows, leaning his head towards Yang. "And I know there's a good brain in there somewhere. Haha!" He turns around, walking off with Professor Oobleck.

And once all the Professors were gone, Yang went to pick up her things.

"So." She stopped rolling up the poster, then looked to Professor Ozpin, who for whatever reason decided to stay. "You want to build an airfield."

Yang nodded. "Well, yeah. You know, celebrate the human spirit over the Grimm! If it weren't for aircraft, we'd be stuck down here and they'd pick us off like daisies!"

Professor Ozpin nodded, tilting his head, looking down on Yang studiously. And he said, "What's the real reason?" Yang was about to repeat the same thing again when Ozpin held up his cup of coffee, pausing her. "I have been Beacon's headmaster for many years, Yang Xiao Long. I have had many students right there where you're standing." Yang looked behind her to see Ozpin's desk. "And I'd be there at that desk, listening to them make excuses for failure, lie to my face as to why they cheated, even try crying to garner my sympathies." He walked over to the desk, then sat down in the chair. "I know when someone is lying to me. And you're lying." Yang pressed her lips tight, glancing away. "But I know it's not out of malice. Rather it's because the real reason might make you seem insane. Trust me, I have heard and seen many things in my life, Yang Xiao Long, nothing will surprise me. So please, just tell me the truth. Why do you want to build this airfield?"

Yang slowly edged her eyes to looked at Ozpin again. He was not being demanding if she was honest. Plus, Ruby thought he was a pretty cool guy. Pretty chill on the grading system. If Ruby thought he was cool, then so be it. "Someone told me to."

"Who?" Ozpin leaned in, tenting his hands together and resting his head on them.

"... I don't know," says Yang. "All I know is that I was out there in that field, practicing some brushstorming with Ruby, and I heard a voice." Ozpin nodded, allowing her to continue. "It said, 'if you build it, she will come,' and it said it a few times now and again while we were out there. And then that night, I had a dream. About the airfield, about weird flying machines in the air and... that's it, pretty much actually."

Ozpin was quiet. Great, Yang thought. Now he thought Yang was being completely insane. She was going to be assigned to a sanatorium, or worse, thrown out of school and be forced to live as a beggar because she couldn't keep quiet about her stupid ideas and her stupid stuff! What was she thinking!? What would Mom think of this!? "I see." Ozpin leant back in his seat, taking a sip of coffee. He sighed deeply. "And this voice, did it sound familiar?"

"It sounded like a woman," said Yang. "But other than that, nothing. Sort of sounded familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it." She placed her hands on Ozpin's desk, leaning towards him. "Look, this was a stupid idea, okay? I..." She quickly pushed back, and started packing her stuff. "I'm so sorry for wasting your time, I'm not normally this bad at public speaking but with a crazy idea like this, it's like I've suddenly turned into Jaune!" She paused. "No offense to him, it's just..." She scratched at her hair, finding herself now in a deep hole with which she could only dig further. "... eh. Yeah. I'm just gonna go."

"Hold on," said Ozpin. Yang stopped in her tracks, turning back to look at him. "How sure are you that you heard that voice?"

Yang blinked. She had to think for a minute. That voice came to her through the rustling grass, over the gunshots of Ember Celica and Crescent Rose, through the whistling leaves and the crash of the ocean. No matter how loud something was, she could hear that whisper to her ear as if there was someone right next to hear, as if nothing else mattered to her.

"If you build it, she will come."

Yang didn't want to say it. The idea was stupid, she knew it, Ozpin knew it, he had to.

But she said it. "It's the surest I have ever been in my life."

Ozpin looked at her with great surprise, then smiled. "Good."

*** ONE MONTH LATER AND ONE CONSTRUCTION OF AN AIRFIELD LATER ***

It cost a lot of favors, money, and other unmentionables to round up students to build it. Ruby, Blake, and Weiss were eager enough at least. But rounding up Team JNPR, Team CRDL, Team CFVY, and other Teams within Beacon's student body for a total of nearly a hundred students was as mindbreaking as building the airfield itself. The airfield was built next to the lake, which flowed out into the waterfall over the Beacon Cliffs out into the water. The dirt runway led parallel to the riverside, ending right at the crest of the cliff. The two hangars were built on the opposite side of the river, and there the students were already celebrating their job well-done with fresh soda, pizza, and other junk foodstuffs. Music was loud and wild, people were dancing their legs off, it was amazing! Ruby, Weiss, and Blake were busy in the hangar, mingling with the other students as well. She could se Jaune unsuccessfully courting Weiss again, Ruby happily dancing with Zwei, and Blake just happily sitting off in a corner with Sun. Business as usual.

But something was eating at Yang. She sat on the riverbank, next to the pier for the seaplanes. Why did she even have that built?

She laid back, feeling the dirt and the stray tufts of grass on her clothes and the back of her neck.

She had built an airfield. It had cost her an entire month's worth of partying, an entire month's worth of practicing for the tournaments, an entire month's worth of being a sister to Ruby, an entire month's worth of getting to be Yang!

...

Now what?

She blinked, hearing a rustling in her ears. She sat up, then turned around. She stood up, in awe, then walked over to it.

There, sitting in one of the empty hangars, sat the weirdest thing she ever saw. It had two wings, one set above the other, with the top one being set back just a little bit. It resembled something like a car, with a tail that tapered towards a fin and a smaller wing with flaps on it. And at the front was this massive propeller, that gleamed in the sun. This red airplane*1, Yang thought, with little darker red lightning streaks on the side, was beautiful. But she had serious doubts that thing could fly. Yes indeed, that did not look flightworthy at all, at least in her imagination. Where was the Dust loaded? How did the engine tilt so it could hover? Why did it kind of look like a fish if she looked at it from the side?

Where did this thing even come from!?

Yang pressed her hands against her cheeks, sighing deeply. It did look cool though.

Airfield of Dreams

No engine vibrations. No torque and no lashing sound of the engine propeller. Accompanied by a whistling sound, my jet shot through the air. Later when asked what it felt like, I said, "It was as though angels were pushing." - Adolf Galland

1. Yang has a good eye for airplanes. The Beechcraft Model D17 Staggerwing is often regarded as one of the most beautiful biplanes to ever take flight. In an age where the biplane was being thrown out out in favor of all-metal monoplanes, the Staggerwing stands out as being relatively modern. It was streamlined, complete with retractable landing gear. The negative stagger wing configuration gave the pilot good visibility. Each Staggerwing was crafted by hand, and was built for the executive in mind in Civil Aviation. Beyond that, it set an altitude record of 30,000 feet, was one of the first planes to circle the Earth, and was a regular sight in Air Races such as the Bendix Trophy Race where Jackie Cochran set a women's airspeed record of 328 kilometers an hour and established the before mentioned altitude record.

All in all, a beautiful aircraft for the Golden Age of Aviation.