There are these moments. Moments of intense frustration that get on a person's nerves. The kind of frustration that is warranted from stubbing a pinkie toe on the leg of a table, from not being able to find the remote to the television when it was hiding in plain sight, or from procrastinating on an assignment that is due the next day. The kind of mundane happenings that test one's patience, slowly grinding away at their sanity.
Yang Xiao Long knows that frustration. She knows it well.
She had never considered school a place of 'fun', and today was no different. However, she did what she was told, hoping to get through her assignment with little trouble. She would do her required battle training, do what was expected of her, and have the rest of the day off.
Unfortunately for her, when it came to a Miss Glynda Goodwitch - or as Yang liked to call her, the teacher with a pole stuck where the sun don't shine - the assignment became something rather strange.
The task itself, as Goodwitch had explained, was quite simple. Go into the Emerald Forest, and kill some Grimm. No one was allowed back until they did. The teachers would know too. They were always watching.
The one odd element that bothered her was that they were meant to go in alone. If they met others in the forest, whether they were apart of the same team or not, you could choose to fight alongside them or go it lone wolf style. They were not told why, but those were the options.
Her fellow students, mainly Pyrrha and Blake, speculated that it might be a trial to test one's cooperation, ingenuity, and flexibility when thrust into a fight with someone they have not worked with previously. Testing one's patience and ability in battle. No one could say for sure though if that was the intended purpose.
Yang thought it was a weird exercise, but, like everyone else, she went along for the ride.
Entering the forest had been a breeze. All was quiet and Yang strolled along at her own pace, deciding not to travel by wind via recoil like she did last time she was launched into these same wily woods. Traveling alongside a cliff wall, she whistled, idly wondering if she would run into any one from her team while she walked. Encountering no other souls, she began to wonder what everyone else was up to.
Knowing her sister, she most likely was seeking out Weiss or herself. If Ruby ran into Blake, that was just a bonus. She had nothing against Blake, she was a skilled fighter, she just was not the easiest person to talk to. Anyone else Ruby knew, like Jaune, Pyrrha or Nora, would be cool with her too. Yang knew her sister liked being around others and would do what she could to find someone she liked. Pity she was so socially awkward, but maybe this exercise will really help Ruby break out of that shell she told her she was in.
Weiss was probably happy that she was separated from Ruby. Yang was surprised that she still maintained her cool what with Ruby's childish personality rubbing her all the wrong ways nearly every passing day. The ice princess was most likely far from here, distancing herself as much as she could from her partner. Yang betted it take would less than ten minutes for Ruby to somehow run into Weiss, either figuratively or literally. Yang had more trust in the latter.
As for Blake, she guessed that she was sneaking around, killing Grimm quickly and quietly. Just as she had done when Yang had first encountered her during initiation. For all she knew, the speedy ninja had already completed their task and was heading back to Beacon now.
Continuing along the cliff side, Yang distracted herself with her thoughts. She knew that it was an inevitability that she would run into something within the Grimm infested woods, so she didn't worry about it. Staring at a cloud that loosely reminded her of a shapeless blob, she heard a rustle in the bushes off to her left, opposite the cliff face.
Learning from her previous mistake, she did not approach. She called out, "Is there someone there?" Receiving no answer, she activated her weapon and raised her fists, ready to brawl.
It proved to be a wise decision when but a few moments later, three Grimm burst out of the bushes, all Ursa. Choosing to reveal themselves as they saw that their ambush had failed. Their red eyes shone with a cruel luminescence behind their chalk white masks, heads shaking side to side in anticipation. They were eager for a fight. Lined up in a row, they were spaced out evenly so as to prevent Yang from running. The cliff to her back acting as a barrier to block any escape.
Only three Ursa. Yang smirked. Too easy.
She took the first one in the middle out rather quickly. Shooting the two off to the left and right with her Dust filled rounds, she blinded them, striking their eyes with bullets with pinpoint accuracy. She struck her intended target with a solid uppercut, firing a round into its jaw. The Grimm roared in pain and lashed out with a claw. She backflipped out of the way, her back but a few feet from the cliff wall. She knew she had to be careful. Being cornered was not a strategy worth risking.
As the other two Ursa continued to rub the Dust from their eyes, she ran up to her current opponent and jumped, high, twisting herself constantly in a wheel while in the air. Sailing back down, she stuck her leg straight out at the right time. A crack resounded through the quiet of the forest as she struck, her heel digging into the Ursa's head and cracking its skull. Falling to the ground, that left two to go.
"Alright, who's next?"
She charged the one on the right, the first one to have cleared its vision. She anticipated the second one to come up to her from behind, but knew she had a few spare seconds until it reached her. Punching her opponent back, she followed. Shooting it with every swing. The Ursa only grunted in mild hurt as its thick hide ate her bullets, barely scratching it. She started to slow her punches, allowing an opening. The Ursa, seeing the lull, brought a claw up. It swung down with ferocity, aiming to kill. A brief flash of orange crossed her vision as the claw passed harmlessly downward, missing her as she jumped far back. She paid it no mind, because the Ursa did just as she had planned.
Spinning in mid-jump, she delivered a round straight to the face of the Ursa that had slowed behind her in preparation to strike her backside, blinding it with Dust yet again. With both roaring at her, one struggling to see from the second shot it took to the eyes and the other ready to fight, she prepared her next step.
She turned her back on the blinded Ursa just a few feet from her, aware of its movements lest it lash out blindly. It would be the end of her if she allowed that. The enraged, still seeing Ursa began to charge at her, picking up speed as it began to pump its legs faster. Before it could tackle her, a claw once again raised as it leaped, she again jumped up. This time leaning back.
She lightly brought her foot down onto the cranium of the Ursa she blinded, using it as a platform to continue her lift with an "Upsa-daisy!". As she bounced off its head, tucking into a roll, she felt rather than saw as the massive claw of the charging Ursa sliced through the air.
She heard a squelch from behind her. A thump hitting the forest floor at the same time she landed. The blinded Ursa had been defaced with a claw, courtesy of its own buddy. Two down, one to go.
With only one Ursa left, she decided to have a little fun. She faced it, bringing her fists back up and allowing a small smirk to grace her lips. "Come at me, big boy. Show me what you're made of."
It ran at her, releasing a throaty roar in rage. It was going to kill this small annoying creature if it was the last thing it did.
As it charged, she began to sprint toward it as well, taking a page out of her sister's book and firing a few rounds behind her with one gauntlet to increase her speed, the other raised to strike. Colliding head on, the Ursa was met with a high speed fist to the front of its face. Her knuckle cracking its mask. It, like its comrades before it, fell to the ground. Hitting the dirt with a satisfying thump.
Yang blew a stray golden lock out of her face and placed her hands on her hips, left hip jutted out slightly. "Well that was disappointing. Didn't even have to use my semblance." She smiled in satisfaction. Her time at Beacon had increased her prowess considerably and it showed.
Glancing around, she determined that there were no more Grimm left to annihilate. She had finished her assignment and it wasn't even noon yet. Nodding, she stretched and decided to head back, looking forward to having rest of the day off to relax and do nothing. Blake was probably done already. Maybe Ruby too. Maybe she'd ask if they wanted to go to lunch or something when she got back. If she was feeling gracious, she might even let Weiss tag along.
Walking into the woods once again, a strong wind rustled the branches, her wild blonde locks dancing with the passing breeze. As it passed, Yang realized her throat felt oddly bare in the chill of the wind.
"My scarf!" Reaching up in confirmation, she felt nothing around her neck. Her scarf was gone. She did not know how or when, but it must of been at some point during the fight. Purple eyes lit up in realization as she remembered something.
That flash of orange from earlier. It must have been her scarf. Chances are, if she was lucky, it was still nearby.
Yang looked around wildly, quickly scanning the undergrowth and visible terrain. Seeing nothing, she climbed the nearest tree in seconds, alighting herself on a branch. From her higher position, she did not see any orange around or within the trees. The battle field she left behind held no traces of an orange colored wrap either. A sense of dread settled heavily in her stomach as she began to get antsy. She could not afford to lose that scarf.
Jumping down, she went over to the Ursa bodies, inspecting each one's paws and throwing the bodies elsewhere to make sure they were not laying on it. The only thing she found was a single orange colored thread in the claw of one Ursa, whom had most likely swiped it off her in the first place. Flames alight, she angrily punched its corpse, watching with slight glee as it whistled through the air for hundreds of feet. "That'll teach ya to mess with me."
From her position, she could not hear the shriek of terror as the dead Ursa crash landed near a particular rabbit Faunus.
While that did not solve her problem, it made Yang feel a little better and cleared her head for a few brief seconds. Allowing her to calm down slightly. She reasoned that her scarf could not have gotten very far in only ten or fifteen minutes. It had to have caught on something. It had to. She would not leave until she found it.
For the next part of her search, she climbed the face of the cliff, pausing at the halfway point a good thirty to forty feet up. She shaded her eyes with a hand, scanning the treetops to see if her scarf had caught on anything up there. She let out a huff, annoyance beginning to leave a weight in her chest. Coupled with the dread in her stomach and the anxiety in her veins, she was beginning to feel terrible, almost as though she were ill. She would have preferred being sick over this.
Looking down, she inspected her battleground one more time. She looked to the left, the direction she came from, but saw nothing by the border of the cliff and the treeline. Turning to her right, she noticed a massive boulder some yards away. The boulder was as big as a house, presumably weighing even more than one. From what she could see, there was a small space between the boulder and the cliff side. Yang squinted, narrowing her pupils as she tried to make out anything in the space. She thought she could see something orange.
A spark of hope let itself into her heart. The weight in her chest lifting. Jumping down with a heavy thud, she sprinted up to the boulder. Stopping in the shade of the giant mass, she peered into the crevice between the boulder and the cliff.
"Yes!" Her eyes lit with joy and she punched the air triumphantly when she saw, not even a foot away, her scarf. Sunlight filtering in through the other side lit up the bright orange fabric, lighting up the clothing as though it were the long awaited prize at the end of a long journey. It appeared to be tightly wedged into the small space, most likely thanks to the wind. She was just happy she found it, safe and sound.
Smiling in relief, she reached a hand into the crevice. Her back pressed against the wall, allowing her arm ample movement to reach her goal. She could not wait to head back to Beacon, her scarf right back around her collar where it belonged. Once it was within her grasp, she was determined not to lose it again.
Her smile fell instantly when her arm stopped just inches from her the piece of cloth. Squishing her arm in, she found that she could not force her hand into the space. Her arm and hand were too big. They were too thick. She could not reach. "No. No no no my hand can't be too big."
Refusing to give up, she turned the other way. This time, her chest against the cliff side as she forced her hand in, her face barely touching the craggy rock wall. This proved not to be the best of ideas, her breasts pushing her back as she tried to press up against the rocky barrier. She reluctantly stopped as she realized this was working just as successfully as her first attempt anyway. "Well that was pointless." She threw her hands up in frustration. This day was not turning out like she wanted.
She then tried to move the rock. Settling into a stance, one foot back as an anchor, her other foot braced for impact and both hands placed flat against the stone, she pushed. It turned out to be as bad as she expected. A three hundred pound Ursa she could lift and toss around like a rag doll any day of the week. Childsplay. A five ton rock was a different story, the offending mass not moving a centimeter.
After minutes of exertion, Yang slumped to her knees, letting her forehead rest against the cool stoney surface. There had to be another way.
Lifting her head up, she glanced around, trying to formulate a new plan. Her eyes shifted to the trees, focusing on the branches. Eyebrow raised, she slowly got up, making her way to the nearest tree. Placing a hand on the trunk, her fingers lightly brushing against rough bark, she smirked as a plan came to mind. "That should be all I need…" She muttered to herself.
She backed up, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Sprinting forward, she leapt up to the lowest branch available. Nearly seven feet above ground. Touching down on the thick wooden stick, she immediately grabbed ahold of its end, breaking off a solid two feet of branch about two inches thick.
Grinning madly, she made her way back to the rock. A plan in the works.
With her newly acquired branch, she first took one end, bracing her fingers in the middle of the wood. Using brute force, she split the branch neatly in two, halving the thickness. Satisfied, she inspected her new 'grabber stick', deeming it thin enough to hook her scarf. "This oughta work!" She threw the other piece into the trees, the stick flying through the air as if a spear, maiming a defenseless tree.
Her back to the wall of the cliff once again, she slowly reached into the space with her branch. Violet eyes focused and a bead of sweat making its way down her forehead. Slowly, ever so slowly, she inched the fragile wand of wood into the crack, hoping to hook her scarf with the end and lift it back out.
She almost cried with joy when she saw the pointed tip disappear under the article of clothing. Now all she had to do was lift it up and it would be -
Snap
"No. No no no no…" Yang gaped in disbelief. In her haste to lift the branch up, the delicate stick hit a part of the rough, misshapen rock, snapping it in two at the rough bump. Her scarf stayed suspended in the air within the crevice, the small space holding the bundled fabric up. The stick fell back to the earth from which it grew without a sound.
Irises a bloody red and hair alive with fire, she let out a scream of rage. She threw what was left of her grabber stick away, not caring where it went. Activating her gauntlets, she began to punch the boulder. The unyielding rock only turning a scorched black at her fiery hits. The skin on the back of her hands became white and cracked under the abuse of smacking into the hard surface, but she did not notice. She did not notice as her knuckles began to crack and bleed with her punches. She did not notice as her aura worked hard to keep up with the speed of her hits, not able to heal her fast enough. All she did notice was that the rock refused to break under her assault. The inanimate object mocking her.
"Yang? What in the name of Dust are you doing?"
Pausing, Yang stopped in her attack of the enemy. Eyes and hair still alight with flame, she turned around. Her eyes were met with a worried looking Blake. The shorter girl staying out of range from her at the treeline some yards away.
"Blake?" Yang grumbled, easing herself out of her rage. Her earlier assault having done its job of calming her, if only a bit. "What are you doing here?"
"I had completed my task and was on my way back to Beacon." Blake responded, quickly glancing around. She took in the scene of a recent battle, Grimm blood splattered here and there, a tree that looked as though it was impaled with a smaller tree, a rock with first degree burns, and a wild child gone insane. "Now what are you doing? What happened here?"
Irises melding back to their usual violet shade, Yang sighed. "It's a long story." Approaching Blake, she gestured to the rock. "In short, I'm just trying to get my stuff back."
"From the rock?"
"I never said the story made sense!"
Blake then took note of the missing garment from Yang's ensemble. "Your scarf is missing."
Eyes were rolled. "You don't say?" She jerked a thumb back at the offensive slag of granite. "That stupid rock over there is keeping my scarf hostage. I've been trying to get it back."
"Oh. How is that working for you?"
"Peachy." Heavy sarcasm. Yang's mood was becoming more sour by the second.
Blake knew this and decided to offer her help. "Is there some way I can be of assistance?"
Yang looked Blake up and down, wondering what she could do for her. Her vision slowly passed over her hands, her mind thinking too fast to pin down the idea she was having. Her eyes widened as a new plan took shape. "Hold up your hand for me."
"My what?"
"Your hand!" Yang insisted, stepping up to her. Invading her personal bubble, she grabbed Blake's wrist. Holding it up, she pressed their palms together, Blake's left against her right. Yang's hand was bigger, Blake's slimmer. Not by much, but it was noticeable.
Blake had no idea what was going on, but found the comparison of their hands interesting in itself. Feeling Yang's hand on their connected palms, she took note of the fact that the brawler's skin was rough and calloused, probably from years of fighting. Yet her hand held a soft tangibility to them, not something that she could explain through words. It was almost as though she could feel the power emanating from her hand, a gentle strength that promised to protect, not harm. Although that was impossible. As odd as a sensation as it was, it was not entirely unpleasant.
"This just might work." Yang mumbled, speaking to herself.
It snapped Blake out of her thoughts. "What will?"
Not answering, Yang dragged Blake over to the blackened boulder. Upon closer inspection, the darker dressed girl realized there was a space between the rock and the cliff wall.
Yang stopped, hand still gripping Blake's wrist. "Do you think you could do me a favor?"
Normally, Blake would have made a small joke about how it depended on the favor in her usual monotone. But upon hearing the slight forlornness in the usually energetic voice, she instead answered with a gentle tone, "Of course Yang. What is it?"
She pointed to the crevice. "I need you to reach in there and pull out my scarf."
A skeptical look. "That's it?"
"Pleeeaaasssse?" Yang pleaded. Letting go of Blake, she clasped her hands together and brought them up under her chin. She bowed her head and began to pout, begging.
Blake sighed. Yang was lucky she was cute. "Fine, fine. Step back."
Smiling wide in joy, Yang skipped away a few feet, giving Blake as much space as she needed.
Pressing her back to the wall, Blake peered into the crevice for the first time, seeing the orange bundle of fabric barely a foot away. However, what confused her was the wooden stick on the floor below it. "Why is there a broken branch on the floor?"
"Forget the branch, get my scarf!"
Chuckling at the outburst, Blake reached forward without further interruption. Her slim arm and hand slithering through the space with ease. It was a perfect fit.
Grabbing the fabric, she tugged it out. She turned to Yang with the orange fabric gripped in her fist. "Got it."
Blake stiffened as she was tackled in a hug, landing on the ground with a small 'huh!'. Strong arms around her cushioned her fall. Yang buried her face in Blake's collar, yelling happily. "Oh thank you thank you thank you!"
"N-no problem." Was the sky becoming fuzzy?
"How can I ever repay you Blake?" Yang shouted, her scarf now safely with her partner.
"You can start by loosening your grip." Blake wheezed, her ribs being crushed by the combined force of Yang's death grip and the weight of her body and large bust on top of her lungs. All of it being pushed down on her by gravity.
"Oops, sorry 'bout that." Yang got up, lifting a now breathing Blake with her. Letting the shorter girl down on her feet, she raised a hand to scratch the back of her neck. "Don't know my own strength!"
Blake brushed herself off. "I'll say."
"But really Blake, thank you." Yang warmly smiled at Blake, the blonde taking the scarf the darker girl held out to her. She continued to grin as she held it to her chest.
Blake shrugged "It was no big deal."
"But it was. To me anyway."
Curious now, Blake eyed the blonde. Amber eyes inspecting her. "Why is that?"
"This scarf was a gift from my sister. She gave it to me for my birthday once. A long time ago." Yang held the orange fabric out for Blake to inspect. It did not look like anything special to her. An ordinary scarf you could buy at a department store in Vale. But appearances are nothing to judge by. There was probably something more to it, more than meets the eye.
"I'm sorry." Was Blake's response. "I did not realize it was so precious to you."
"It's okay. It's not like I tell everyone, ya know?" Yang leaned in to Blake, a hand cupped to the side of her mouth in a conspiratorial whisper. Her voice sounding like a child sharing super secret information that the adults were not allowed to know about. "I'm making a special exception for you, so don't tell anyone!"
A giggle. "Okay Yang, I won't tell."
Yang nodded in gruff satisfaction, the sight silly in Blake's eyes. "Good!"
Blake grinned, happy that Yang seemed happy. "Want to head back to Beacon now?"
"Sure! Just let me put this on first…" Yang muttered the last bit, starting to wrap the scarf back where it belonged.
"Let me help you." Blake reached up slowly, allowing Yang to stop her if she wanted. Met with no resistance, she took hold of the scarf from Yang's hands. The blonde silently holding her hair back as Blake began to wrap the cloth around her neck.
Yang watched with observant eyes as Blake wrapped the scarf for her. She observed as Blake focused, her pupils shrinking within golden irises as she worked. A bit too intensely for such a small job, but Yang was not going to complain. She watched with great interest as Blake lightly bit at her bottom lip, absorbing herself in her simple task. She felt as Blake's soft fingers lightly brushed against the bare skin of her collar and throat, causing light goosebumps to erupt. Blake did not seem to notice.
After Blake had finished wrapping the scarf, the fabric once again snugly gripping her neck, she watched as Blake gazed at the orange wrap. Fingers ghosting over the cloth as if she did not want to let go.
Reaching up, Yang lightly took Blake's hand in her own, connecting their fingers. Blake looked up, seeing soft violet pools looking back at her. Unspoken understanding flew between them.
Yang broke the silence. "Let's head back to Beacon."
Blake nodded, not wishing to speak. She feared she would break the atmosphere that surrounded them if she did.
They returned back to Beacon without trouble. Hands intertwined on the way back.
I apparently lied about not writing for awhile. I heard about RWBY relationship week over on Tumblr and am now participating. Probably going to post a new story everyday with two random characters starring in them. It'll be a great exercise.
I accidentally missed the first day, but guess what I got for the second day? Bumblebee. My ship will never sink.