It was a beautiful day outside. The snow was fresh, and the skies were clear. On days like this, people like Yang should've been raring to go on adventures, or spending time with family. But instead, the blonde was sitting in bed, in the same position she'd rarely left for five months.
If Yang was perfectly honest with herself, she felt like shit. Ruby, Jaune, Ren, and Nora had left two months earlier, and Qrow not long after. She knew she should've left with them, but ever since the Battle of Beacon, as the newscasters had been calling it, she didn't have the energy to do… well, anything, really. Sure, she ate, kept herself clean, and did everything to keep herself alive, but nothing else. Speaking of staying clean, she needed to take a shower.
Yang threw her blanket off, and quickly slid out of her clothes. She swung her feet to the side of her bed, and, praying to everything above that she still had the strength, stood up. She was shaky at first, and had to plant her remaining hand on the wall next to her, but she stood up. Yang stumbled to her bathroom, walked in, and closed the door. Ever since he noticed Yang's failing strength, Taiyang had forbid her from locking herself in any room without anyone else, in case Yang collapsed.
Coming to a full-length mirror, Yang broke her routine slightly. She would normally ignore what she saw in the mirror, as looking into the mirror would lead to thoughts about her arm, and that was a deep, dark corner of Yang's mind that she didn't want to venture in to. However, something compelled Yang to look at herself.
She'd definitely changed in the past five months. Her arms, once lined with powerful but lean muscles, had their numbers cut in half, and the remaining muscles had almost completely atrophied away. She was painfully thin, her ribs showing prominently, and her joints were knobby. Her face, once full with the vibrance of youth, was now gaunt. Her cheeks and eyes were sunken in, and her hair, once bright gold and well tended-to, was a pale yellow, and had the consistency of straw. If someone saw this person walking in public, they would have no idea that this was Yang Xiao Long.
Yang took this all in. She was aware that she was putting herself in danger, living like she was. Yang had been in danger before, hell, becoming a Huntress had put her in danger more often than not, but this was different. She couldn't punch her way out of malnourishment or depression, that's not how it works. She was slowly killing herself, by becoming more and more apathetic each day. And she noticed how it affected her family. She could hear Taiyang falling asleep by her room every night. He still did, but Yang didn't care. And Ruby, who once was so energetic and happy, rarely smiled at all around Yang. At first, that scared Yang, but, like with her father, she no longer cared. That was Yang's life now. Observing, but not caring.
Yang, her shower finished, slid her clothes, an orange tank top and blue jeans, back on, crawled into bed, and slipped into a dreamless sleep.
Yang's slumber was short-lived. She was roused by someone knocking on her door. It was probably Taiyang, come to check on her.
"Come in," Yang said listlessly, rolling over to face away from the door. She heard the door creak, and then the floorboards, as the person made their way over to Yang.
"Yang," the person, Taiyang by their voice, said. Yang grunted in acknowledgement. "There's someone downstairs who wants to see you."
Yang slowly rolled over to face the door. As she rolled, she caught the quick glimmer of happiness in Taiyang's eyes.
'He actually thinks this is improvement,' Yang thought. 'I never realized how hopelessly optimistic he is before. Maybe that's where Ruby got her optimism from.'
She once again shakily got to her feet, ignoring Taiyang's outstretched arm of support. The two walked downstairs to their living room, to meet Yang's guest. Sitting at the coffee table, looking slightly uncomfortable, was James Ironwood. When Yang sat down on the couch across from him, Ironwood looked up, and started slightly. He knew Yang would look different than the last time he saw her, but not this different.
"I'm sorry for seeming startled, Miss Xiao Long," Ironwood said, "but, as your uncle would put it, you look like shit."
No response. 'Ohhh, this isn't good,' Ironwood thought.
"Anyways, I won't make any small talk," he continued. "I have already talked with your father, and he agrees with this."
Ironwood rubbed the back of his neck, as if he didn't know what to say next. "Miss Xiao Long, I have an offer for you, an offer that you will find hard to refuse. I can restore to you your fighting capabilities."
Yang blinked in surprise. "You can do that? How?"
Ironwood slowly removed the glove on his right hand. Underneath, instead of a human hand, was a metallic one.
"My Semblance is officially called Aeskinesis," Ironwood said. "It means control over metals and metallic objects. I could create for you a cybernetic right arm, so you could fight at the same level, possibly at an even higher level, as before."
"What's the catch?" Yang asked, more interested in this than anything in the past five months.
"You must agree to become a member of the agency that I belong to, and everything that your membership entails," Ironwood answered.
"Could you give me a moment?" Yang asked. This was huge. She could fight again, be a Huntresses again. But, she had to join some sort of organization she knew nothing about. For all Yang knew, this "organization" could be a sex ring, and Yang was just the next girl in their crosshairs. Yang mentally shook her head. This was Ironwood. He wouldn't be part of a sex ring. At least, probably not.
Yang, in all of her malnourished, disheveled, half-dead glory, looked Ironwood in the eye, and said the three words that changed her life from then on.
"I'll do it."
Aaaand cut! Hello ladies, gentlemen, and robots, my name is Buckbuck2, and welcome to This Will Be The Day, my first RWBY fanfic! I know that less than a week ago the official design for Yang in Volume 4 was released, and she still doesn't have a right arm, and is looking one hell of a lot better than here, but in my defense, I thought of this before I saw the new design. Other than that, I don't really have much to say, other than see you next time!
Theme for the Fanfic: The Business of Paper Stars by Hawthorne Heights