The soft afternoon sun beamed well into the well kept room for the first time in a many a week. The season of snow had started its end and the sun had once again showed itself more brilliantly in the sky, above and beyond the clouds that once covered it. Outside this this well lived house the tips of grass had began to peek out of the melting frost that had covered it completely just days before. The leaves on the trees sparkled in green as new life began to breath into the plant life that had taken slumber under the snow of the past few months. Even small animals like squirrels and the occasional rabbit stuck their heads out of their homes to bear witness to the changing of season as life begins anew on the first day of spring. The air was no longer chilly, the sky no longer covered in clouds, the land no longer blanketed in perpetual white.
A layer of partially frosted glass separated Yang from the outside world. Steam rising from a mug of hot chocolate on her bedside, she was sitting upright on her bed but still wrapped in her blankets as the temperature slowly adjusted. The pain on her right arm stump no longer bothered her as the wound had completely healed, but she could still feel the phantom limb from time to time, with the doctors advising her that this would continue for a few more months. She was still wearing her favorite yellow tank top with a tan jacket over it. She wore the same outfit in doors as outdoors, never really finding the the desire to change her clothes. She stared listlessly at the world outside, her expression never changing, her eyes barely blinking, her body nearly motionless.
Like a statue. Like a woman frozen in time. Like nothing seemed to matter. A lifeless caricature of her former self, starkly contrasting with the new life of the world outside.
Three months? Four? When one chooses to isolate themselves in a room, barely leaving or even going outside, one loses all sense of time. In truth she herself no longer knew how long it's been since that fateful night in Beacon when the world flipped on its head, when everything changed and nothing stayed the same. The night she lost two friends to forces no one understood. The night she lost an arm to a man she had never seen before. The night where she lost her sister to a destiny anyone's control. A night of comings and goings where the world as she knew it was no more.
This was the night she was abandoned.
Gathering what little will she had, she stepped out of her room into the living room. On the dinner table was a note from her father beside some food. It was her dinner, pre-cooked, and her father left a message saying he would be working late. Typical. While he doted on his daughters 24/7 when they had just returned home, with things calming down now on the island and on the mainland he had started getting serious with his work again, which ended up with Yang sometimes spending the nights home alone.
Alone at home. Ruby had just left the house to travel with Jaune, Ren and Nora just two weeks ago, which left her with more than enough time to be by herself whenever her father wasn't home. She spent it either chopping firewood with her remaining good arm or watching whatever was good on her Scroll. Her father did everything else. She took the plate of food and put it in the microwave to heat for later, or whenever she felt like eating. She really didn't know, she hadn't had a good appetite for a long time. She cleaned up, picked up her Scroll from the coffee table and headed back to her room. Her Scroll had two missed calls from an unknown number. Given the recent influx of calls from telemarketers and crazy end-of-the-world types with the new temporary CCT tower going online, Yang just brushed it aside and decided not to call back.
In her room she was greeted by a figure against the dimming light. A visage with bloodstains on its face. A woman's body, a dark outline to the rays of the sun. She stood there by the window, wiping the blood off her face, looking at the world outside. Yang's Scroll fell to the floor with a loud thud.
"You... how did you..."
Flabbergasted. She could barely react. All she could do was stare the the woman standing in her room.
"You left your window open. Sorry about that."
Flabbergasted. She slowly approached the figure, dragging her feet behind her, trying to sort out the torrent of emotions inside. She was already in front of this woman when she had finally figured out the correct emotion to this unexpected situation.
*SLAP*
She chose anger, and maybe a bit of rage. She had enough time to get used to being one-handed that even a simple slap had sent the woman in her room reeling from the pain. The slap had cut her lip, which was really only a minor issue considering the other wounds on her face that were still bleeding somewhat. She had been in a fight, that much was clear.
"Yeah... guess I deserved that" said the woman dejectedly but with a slight grin on her face.
"You do, and then some. Really... how dare you..." was Yang's reply, the anger and rage in her voice slowly trailing off.
"I know..."
Yang went to her bedside table and took a first aid kit. As she opened up the pouch with her teeth the woman pushed her arm away.
"It's fine. I did some myself, plus I don't think it'll really help at this point." said the woman, putting up a brave face despite cringing at the pain coming from everywhere on her body. She pulled up a chair beside the bed and took a seat. Yang put back the kit in her table and sat on her bed, facing the woman with a rather apathetic expression. Both women passed glances at each other, though it was Yang who was actively avoiding eye contact. This went on for a few more minutes until Yang decided it was time to let it out.
"So... four months, was it? Since you ran?" Yang said, breaking the ice with just a hint of scorn and sarcasm. The woman pulled out a bloody cloth from under her coat.
"Yeah... to be honest those four months went by like a breeze to me, since I never really had a chance to rest..." She said, exhaustion coming from her voice. The eyebags on her face were visible if you looked beyond the scars. She had clearly not slept in days. She opened up the cloth to reveal a bull's mask, broken in half, with blood on the inside. She showed it to Yang, whose eyes opened wide.
"That's... is he-"
"Dead? Pretty sure. Made sure of it." Said the woman in a cold and calculating tone. She had been hunting the man for months since she left, leaving no stone unturned and now lead unfollowed as she chased him down, to the ends of Remnant if she had to. She wrapped the broken mask back up in the cloth and put it back in her coat. Yang could feel a sense of joy welling up inside now that the man who took her arm was dead, but it did little to placate the anger she had for the woman sitting in front of her.
"... Don't think this makes us even. Don't you dare for a moment think it makes up for what you did." She said, venom dripping from her lips. She felt stabbed in the back, after all, by the woman who had promised to trust her and be by her side through the good times and the bad. The knife was still there, the wound still fresh, the memory still vivid. She remembered waking up alone on a hospital bed alongside other victims of the attack. Under heavy anesthetic she was drowsy and left in a stupor, unable to comprehend what had just happened. So heavily sedated that she didn't even realize she was down an arm.
She called out her sister's name. Nothing. She called out this woman's name. Nothing. The nurse on duty told her Ruby was still recovering in the other tent. She demanded to know where her partner was, only to be told that she was just here and that, with tears streaming down her face, the woman had left her weapons on the bedside before she ran out the door. She could not comprehend. It wasn't until Sun came in with the news that it finally dawned on her what had happened.
Abandoned. Alone.
"I... would have gone with you, you know! Sun he... he told me everything! I don't care what this White Fang business is or however you're tangled with them! You're my partner! Partner's don't... they don't just abandon each other!" Yang said, her voice cracking from the weight of her words. She instinctively reached out and tried to grab the woman's arm with her right hand, only to remember that it was gone.
"He could have taken both arms, both legs hell even my head, and that wouldn't have stopped me!" She screamed in a silent voice.
"Yang... did it ever occur to you how much everyone would stand to lose if something happened to you? Or to Ruby or Weiss? That's why... I left. To protect everyone. Especially you." Said the woman, her voice quivering subtly.
"I told you before that he would stop at nothing to get what he wants. It doesn't matter who or how many die. He will do whatever it takes to get the job done. I refuse to let any of you be just another victim to him. He wanted me, and I let him have it. I'd rather die than let him get to you. Especially you, Yang."
Yang felt her eyes get misty as she finally looked the woman straight in the eye. The determination in the woman's eye burned brighter than anything she had ever seen before. Now more so, with the job finally done.
"I'm just an orphan, nothing more. You have Ruby, Weiss, your family. Everybody would miss you. I'm just a shadow that will be forgotten eventually." She said, resigning to the truths she believed in.
"Ruby would. And Blake. And Jaune and Ren and Nora and dammit pretty much everyone. Don't you get it? We were all worried!"
Yang got up and put her arm on the woman's shoulder, looking at her straight in the eye. The woman could no longer avoid her stare, forced to look straight into Yang's eyes, into the soul she was baring for her.
"You said you'd die for me... well I would do the same. If I had my way no one would be dying, neither of us. Only that guy anyway, which you apparently made sure of." Said Yang, the emotion changing from anger to a deep affection.
Yang knelt in front of her and bowed her head on her lap, tears now streaming down her face.
"So Blake... please... stop running... you don't have to run any more..."
Blake looked down at Yang's bowed head. She stroked her hair as Yang buried her face on her lap. She could feel the warmth of Yang's tears flow over her skin, like a flood of pent up emotions finally breaking free of their confines. She could feel the grip of Yang's remaining arm on her leg like a vice grip, as if refusing to let go for eternity. Joy, sadness, anger, disgust, fear, rage, jealousy, anything.
Everything.
"Yang..." said Blake as she tried to lift her partner's head from her lap. Tears still coming down her face, Yang and Blake looked at each other for what seemed to be an eternity. A silent moment where everything emptied, everything disappeared. Nothing existed, nothing mattered. Just the the two of them, trapped in an infinite moment in the life of a single second. When this eternity ended, Yang brought her face up and buried it deep in Blake's bosom. Blake, surprised, welcomed her. The world became black and white where memories and emotions blended together in a single space in time, a single point of contact between the lips of two individuals.
*RRRRRIIIIINNNNNGGGGG*
Yang's scroll began to ring. She didn't bother to answer. They were too engrossed in the moment to care about anything or anyone else. Just each other and their warmth. Nothing else.
*RRRRRIIIIINNNNNGGGGG*
Blake finally stopped and pushed Yang away. She picked up Yang's Scroll and bade her to answer the call. Breathing heavily and her face completely flushed, Yang tried calm herself down to answer the call. It was Ruby, who hadn't called even once since she left. Blake, for reasons known only to her, knew what this call was about. She went to the TV and picked up the remote control. Yang, finally calm, answered the call.
"Yang! Yang! Blake, it's Blake! TV! I mean-"
"Whoa slow down sis! What's wrong?" Said Yang, as she tried to calm down her sister. Ruby was panicking on her side, unable to form complete sentences much less coherent words. A hint of despair echoed from her voice in her frantic attempt to call Yang.
"The news! Blake's in Haven and she's-"
"Wait what? She's not in Haven! She's here with me at h-"
A sudden loud heartbeat could be heard echoing across the room. A cold sweat ran down Yang's face as she could feel her heart pounding louder and louder. A deep rooted fear began to spread from her heart to her arms, legs and head. It was cold like ice, causing her muscles to quiver as the fear began to turn in to terror. She didn't know why, she didn't know how, but something inside her knew nothing was as it seemed right now. She turned her her head to stare at Blake who calmly opened the TV in the room and switched to the international news. She dropped the Scroll on the floor.
Blaring sirens from police vehicles and ambulances. Emergency crews running around in a rush. Bystanders pointing and screaming. A raging fire engulfing a building as news and rescue crews scrambled to contain the chaos. To the front of the building were a few body bags, zipped open, with Faunus lying inside them. Some had burn marks all over, but all of them had massive cuts and stabs on their bodies, like they came from a sword.
This is Haven Central News reporting live from the city's industrial district. We received an anonymous tip that the White Fang are planning a major operation in this area. A large fire has erupted in the building the tip mentioned, with firefighter crews desperately battling the flames and- hey did you get a shot of that?
The cameraman panned towards a group of police officers running into a nearby alley. The flames were almost contained, with crews bringing out even more bodies from inside the building. All of them were Faunus wearing White Fang uniforms, which confirmed the validity of the tip, but did nothing to tell the response teams just what the hell had just happened here. It was widely known that the White Fang operated in the city, but they were very meticulous with their activities. Accidents that compromised their operations were unheard of. This was the first time that a major breach in their activities occurred in full view of the public, much less that an informant would reveal the location of a White Fang base. If there was one thing the authorities were certain of, it's that this was the work of someone with insider knowledge of how they work.
We have more here!
The cameraman followed the officers into the alley. The alley was a typical down and out place with trash and grime littered about. What wasn't typical about it was the scene of carnage that waited for them. The officer counted at least half a dozen dead White Fang members strewn about in the dank alley with various cuts and a few cut off limbs. In the corner in the back was a man with horns and red hair, slumped down with his back on a wall. He held a sword that had its blade broken off. A broken mask covered half his face. The uncovered half had the expression of unbridled terror, with his eyes wide open to witness the final moments of his life. He had a large cut on his abdomen with his guts spilling out. His death was quick but arguably very painful.
The officer moved to the opposite side. Under the shadow of the building sat a young woman, her trench coat shredded and covered in blood as she looked up as if facing the sky. She sat on a box with her back resting on the dumpster behind her. A black sword with a gun on the hilt lay broken beside her. She had a strangely peaceful smile on her face, which belied the large, gaping wound on her chest with a blade sticking out of it. The officer checked for a pulse. She was clutching a Scroll, beat up with cracks on it, which had a name on it which she had tried to call twice before giving up.
Yang. That was the name on the Scroll.
Sir! They're all dead! Even the girl!
Yang fell into a heap on the floor in front of the TV, her hands clutching her mouth as she desperately tried not to scream. Blake came down to her and gave her a big hug. Tears came streaming down her face as she tried to give comfort to her partner, who had just been hit by a truth harder than any bullet, sharper than any sword, deeper than any abyss.
Yang knew Blake was crying, but she could not feel the tears on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry Yang." Said Blake, fighting back tears that were as ephemeral as the light of the moon now shining into the room.
"Why! Why didn't you call for help! Why why why!" Yang shouted, her words barely audible and barely coherent. She turned to Blake and started banging on her chest.
"Tried. No one was answering." Was the only reply. Then it hit Yang. The two missed calls she didn't return. Horrific guilt built up inside her.
"I... I..."
"Shhh it's okay Yang, it's okay." Blake whispered in her ear and she started wiping away Yang's tears.
"It's my fault to begin with. For not trusting you. For not trusting our team. Too late now it seems." Blake replied to Yang, standing up, with a smile.
"But how did you... here...?"
"I made a promise. I promised that once this was all over, I'd come back to you no matter what. Even... even in death."
Blake pulled Yang up to her feet. She walked towards the window as the moonlight shone into the room. It looked as if the moon's glow went right through her body. She no longer had a shadow. All this confirmed what Yang had suspected the moment she saw Blake's body on the TV. She was but a fleeting existence now. Blake turned to Yang. Peace, acceptance, relief. Coming here, it was for Blake as much as it was for Yang.
"Well it's time it seems. I... can go with no regrets." Blake said forlornly, knowing what was about to come.
"Blake?"
"Yang... I fulfilled my promise, didn't I?"
"Yeah... yes you did."
Both girls smiled as their tears slowly began to stop. Yang stood up straight and confident, a far cry from her dejected and despondent figure of the months past. Courage, pride, purpose. Everything she was when she was with Blake came coming back to her, breathing new life into a body and soul that was merely a husk just a few hours ago.
"Thank you... Yang... I... love you."
"And I love you too."
Yang approached Blake, bringing her face closer to hers. In a moment of what should have been pure intimacy, Yang's face went right through Blake's. Blake's form was now dematerializing. Yang stepped back with a bit of regret that she could not fulfil one final gesture for her partner.
"Heh... don't worry about that Yang. You'll have another chance one day. Eventually. I'll be waiting." Said Blake, wiping away the remains of her ghostly tears.
Yang wiped away the remainder of her own tears. Both girls laughed like they hadn't laughed before. A tinge of joy mixed with sadness. Yang knew deep inside that it was time, but also believed that they would meet again someday.
"I'll make sure to practice with other girls just in case, so I can give you that big one you deserve up there... well wherever it is we all end up in."
"Hah. Don't ever change Yang." Blake replied, the lower half of her body now disappearing like a fine mist into the moonlight.
"... Goodbye Blake."
"... Bye Yang. See you later."
And with that, Blake was gone.
No tears. No crying. |No bawling. Just a sense of contentment. She was not out of tears, Yang knew, but because she knew she didn't have to cry. She was at peace, knowing that she had seen Blake one last time, and that Blake could go with no regrets. She picked up the Scroll and called Ruby.
"Ruby? Where are you right now" Yang said, with a voice of newfound determination and courage.
"Huh? We're in a village in Mistral. Did you see the news repo-"
"Yes I did. I'll tell you all about it later. Send me your coordinates and sit tight for a few days." said Yang, cutting off her sister.
"Coordinates? Why?"
"I'm coming to join you."
Author's Notes:
This is a one-shot inspired by the as of yet unreleased volume 4 trailer (it's on Youtube) and a RWBY fan comic called The Hospital. The idea came to me as I was doing the outline draft for my next AU work and while I was TRYING to finish the last chapter of While You Were Sleeping, which is still not done. Man.
The other reason why I made this is that I was testing adjustments to my writing style. That is to say, you'll probably notice that the way I wrote this is somewhat different from my previous works for RWBY. If all goes well, this will be how I will do my AU work when the outline is finished.
As always reviews are very much welcome.