Chapter 3: A Beginning

Days passed full of grief, mourning, and well-wishers. Days in which Yang stayed home to aid her sister in overcoming her period of mourning. Days in which Yang accomplished absolutely nothing. Days in which she dreamed of a means of self-protection much more powerful than any firearm, yet could not start on.

That is until Weiss Schnee, the personal angel to the Rose-Xiao Long sisters during this time, decided that Ruby needed to escape the memories for a while and whisked the younger sister off for a week vacation off in the country, far away from the city and anyone connected to the family. While she never wished to see her sister go, Yang knew this would be best for Ruby and for herself. For now she could afford to be selfish, now she could begin her experimentations. Well she could as long as the council provided her a grant for the research, for she would need test subjects and a hefty sum of money.

Dashing through her house and to her basement, she ignored the wails of her mourning father and began to map out her experiment.

Pacing the room the blonde muttered to herself as she wrote on various diagrams, "It will be a weapon…but not a weapon. It should weaponized the user upon ingestion…Yes…that's it!"

Her new "not weapon" would be harmless in its original form but when taken into the body would give the user extreme strength and power, power that could save their lives from thugs and murders. This chemical compound would change the world! She was certain of it as much as she was of the name…dust.

Yang rolled up several of her diagrams as she scurried down the road and into the town hall were the scientific board was holding a meeting today. If the council would just grant her permission she could revolutionize the world! Taking a deep breath the blonde mentally prepared herself as she rested her palm against the smooth wooden door. Just using a fraction of her strength, she opened the door to the town hall and immediately was met by judging looks by the seven council members, seven of Vale's elite.

Granting each person a nervous smile, the blonde slowly inched her way into the room aware of all of the glares and confused gazes.

"Pardon the interruption, but this just could not wait." Yang apologized profusely with a bow of her head as she laid her diagrams out on the table in front of the council members.

"Well unfortunately whatever conversation we were holding before the intrusion is lost upon me, we might as well hear what she has to say…it should prove entertaining if nothing else." A large man with white hair and cold blue eyes declared as he sat back in his chair and smirked at the young woman.

So Mr. Schnee had somehow managed to weasel his way onto the scientific board as well, that was just…great. He never had shown herself or her sister any kindness and often attempted to persuade Weiss to steer clear of the "savages".

"She always has had quite the imagination, Ms. Xiao Long what have you brought us this time?" A woman this time spoke up.

Her harsh features and overly dark makeup making it almost impossible to believe that she were a human, more of a demon. Especially to the blonde whom had to battle Salem for every permit she had ever been granted.

"What you see in front of you are various diagrams for my new experiment." Yang started as she noticed everyone eyes actually flicker to the documents.

A well-dressed red haired man rolled his eyes slightly and sat his cane upon the table, "Yes, we can see that. Now what is it?"

"This is the blue prints for dust, an ingestible item that will allow the everyday person to wield its awesome power and ultimately defend themselves from perilous situations." The Blonde explained as she swayed nervously at the head of the room.

"So this is for the everyday person you say? Just how awesome is the power? I bet you could sell it to the military for a hefty price. Would they not, James," One of the younger members, Mercury, spoke up.

The man referred to as James nodded his head as he played with a button on his white gloves, "They would indeed, besides average people do not need power."

"Yes they do!" The blonde exclaimed as she slammed a fist down upon the table, knocking a few glasses off the side. "They do need power! They need protection!"

I know your step-mother just died-" A raven haired woman who had been quietly taking in all of diagrams up until being interrupted by Yang.

"MURDERED" The blonde growled.

"Either way I can not endorse something that thieves and thugs and murders could get their hands on. Did you think about that?"

Yang took a deep breath before letting it out with a frown, "Anyone can be a murderer with the right incentive."

Mr. Schnee shock his head, "what exactly are you asking for Ms. Xiao Long?"

"I am asking for human test subjects and one thousand dollars." Yang stated as she dared him to make another comment.

Roman and Salem laughed at her proposal.

"One thousand dollars, are you insane?! You haven't even tested animals yet! While on earth would we give you humans?" Salem demanded with a laugh.

"Alright, alright we do have to take an official vote," General James Ironwood spoke up and calmed down the hysteria.

"All in favor?"

No one, not a single one of them rose their hand. Not even the few who had seemed interested to selling it to the military.

"All opposed?"

Every single hand shot up and it took all Yang had not to punch the smug look off of a few of their faces.

"That settles it then. Ms. Xiao Long, you are hereby forbidden to continue your experiment. Further to do so is without our support and punishable by prison." Ironwood informed her as she rolled her blue prints back up.

"Neo, show her out." Roman said as the mute woman forcefully shoved the tall blonde out of the town hall.

Defeat. All of her dreams, plans, promises thrown into the mud and stomped on like a worm. Without the councils aid, what ever would she do? For they were the say all do all of the scientific community. Sighing, Yang slowly began her walk down the streets but not back home. No, she was not in the mood to see her never to be finished experiment, instead her feet took her to the Red Tiger. Perhaps a couple of drinks could help improve her mood, that and half of her wanted to speak to Blake once again. The blonde slowly pushed the doors open to once again reveal the shady establishment. Making her way over to the bar, she slumped onto the stool before ordering the strongest shots they made. How dare they deny her? She was going to change the world! This was not just her imagination, this was real. This was true and this was going to save families like her own.

Cursing the existence of the council, she flinched noticeably as a hand softly brushed her shoulder. Yang turned her head slightly to reveal the ember eyes she had half hoped to see.

"Rough day I take it?" Blake asked as she perched on the stool next to the blonde.

Running a hand through her thick blonde mane, she sighed. "Yeah, you could say that. I am a scientist, so in order to really do anything my experiment has to be approved by the council."

"And they didn't approve it?" Cat ears flicked as the raven haired girl frowned slightly.

A nod of the head answered the question before she continued her explanation, "And I am forbidden from working on it…so they pretty much just crushed all of my dreams."

Blake hummed lightly to herself for a moment before allowing a small smile to cross her features. "Why not do it anyway? Test it yourself."

"Test it myself? Blake! That's a wonderful idea!" Yang exclaimed as her mind instantly ran with new ideas and ways to correctly measure how much she took before wrapping her arms around the slightly shorter girl. "Well looks like I am wasting time here then! There are experiments to be done!" Throwing the shot back quickly, Yang raced for the door eager to get home and begin, after all Ruby would be returning in three days.

Ember eyes watched until the door closed behind the pumped up blonde. She was pleased that she could aid the girl in any, especially after all Yang had done for her.

"A scientist, huh?" A voice from her side spooked her and nearly caused the cat to fall off of the stool.

Turning with a frown, Blake rolled her eyes as Velvet sent her a wink.

"Yes, she is a scientist…" Blake stated in an attempt to sound uninterested.

"I've always heard scientist make excellent partners" The rabbit hinted with a grin as she dodged Blake's attempt at a playful hit.

The cat shock her head before making her way back stage and to her own room. Maybe just maybe, Yang could the bridge for all Faunus and human.

"October 25th, 1878 4:33 P.M. I have taken 7.3 mm of the newly developed formula. As of now, no changes nor side effects present." Yang said aloud to herself as she wrote down her every dosage in her journal.

She had exactly one day until her sister returned, one day she could stay locked in her lab and not have to make up some excuse. With that in mind, the scientist had been upping the dosage nearly every hour as to not miss a single chance. Taking a seat in her chair, she rubbed her face. While it was necessary for her to experiment as much as possible, she hadn't had but three hours of sleep in the last two days. The blonde couldn't help but yawn as she rested against the chair's back. Perhaps just an hour or so of sleep wouldn't hurt. With that thought in mind, Yang allowed her eyes to close.

Jerking awake with a start, Yang instantly sought out the source of the noise that had roused her from her slumber. It seems that during her nap, she had decided to lean against the desk and had knocked off a beaker, sending the glass to its doom. The blonde sighed as she began to pick up the larger pieces and placing them in the trash, moving across the room to fetch a broom for the rest. Pausing momentarily in front of a mirror, she examined her appearance. Messy blonde hair, dark bags, and red eyes.

"Wait a second…RED EYES?!" She exclaimed as she edged closer to the mirror.

Her eyes were indeed red. This was not some trick of the light. Rushing across the room, she quickly opened her journal.

"October 26th, 1878 2:43 A.M. the first side effect has made itself known. Progress with red eyes. Will further my dosage to 8.3 mm."

Chapter 3 at you much quicker than planned. You can thank all of the sitting in airports I have recently done. It is shorter than the others, which I apologize for but have no fear for the next chapter is where things will truly begin to ramp up! Thanks for all of the support and I hope you continue to enjoy this story!

Until next time,

Stay classy!