A/N Hai Guise :3
So here it is, Chapter 3 of The Black Rose and the White Flame.
Like I promised, this is a chapter for all you Freezerburn fans. I think I did it well, it ended up being a biggggg emotional response from one of the two, you'll have to read to find out which ;).
ONE THING: I feel the need to clarify on this because I'm sure people will ask about it.
For the purpose of the story, I'm assuming that Ruby and Yang are half-sisters. I'm taking the approach that Ruby's mom had some sort of affair with her and Yang's dad, Ruby lived alone with her mom, and when she died from a fatal accident (assumably fighting Grimm) Ruby's biological father had taken her in. I take this approach because our lord and savior Mr. Oum has said that Ruby and Yang are blood related. That being said, this approach worked better for me personally, you'll see why later.
Anyways, Enjoy!
The sun was slightly beginning to set more as the clock almost hit 3. Having less trees then the left side of their clearing, Weiss and Yang had simply stayed near the few trees in their section, paying attention for any Grimm possibly out in the more open areas.
Weiss enjoying not having to run or use her glyphs to keep up with her new partner this time around. Partnered with Ruby and her speed semblance Weiss more often than not relied on her glyphs to keep up with the reckless scythe-wielder when they were traveling, and even that wasn't enough. She was enjoying being able to travel with Yang, who at least held enough self-control to go running off at untraceable speed at a moment's notice. She let herself relax a bit and mindlessly walk with Yang through their part of the clearing.
Yang on the other hand was getting bored. Don't get the wrong idea, at the start Yang was loving the relaxation after a stressful week back at school, especially after Professor Port's 'inspiring' lectures. But usually Blake would have at the very least started moving faster by this point, trying to get the mission underway. She would have said something to the Heiress about moving, but Yang took one look and could see the peacefulness in her facial expression, no longer its usual scowl. As much as Yang may have wanted to get in and bash some Grimm with her precious gauntlets, she didn't want to ruin Weiss' rare good mood.
With that in mind, Yang thought back to her original mission today: make the snow angel laugh. Yang was determined to show Weiss that she could be friendly around the team, especially around Yang. As much as she knew her teasing went too far sometimes, she means for it to be a kind of connection she makes with those around her, especially her team. Ruby's come to live with it, and Blake's gotten plenty over the course of their time as partners. Weiss was lacking in quantity of teasing, and Yang planned to make up for lost time.
She figured now if any time would be the best to make Weiss laugh. After all Weiss was happy and at peace, a rare quality to see in Weiss if at all. Yang just had to find an opening.
Might as well start with some simple conversation Yang thought, looking for her chance to strike. "Enjoying yourself there Weiss?"
Breaking out of her slight trance, Weiss nodded and looked at Yang intently. "Yes actually, it's really nice to be able to not be running after Ruby and her falling rose pedals for once." Weiss meant that completely. She hated having to use all her energy and part of her Aura just to follow Ruby, let alone keep up with her.
Yang could understand that, knowing how Ruby could get when she was hunting, but she didn't find the opening she was looking for. Hm…nothing there. Let me try again.
"Fair enough. I can understand wanting a break from chasing Ruby. As long as I've lived with the girl I've been chasing her and trying to keep her out of trouble. Cookies were a great help."
Weiss smirked a bit at the thought of a young Yang running after an even younger Ruby, imagining how long they must have known each other. Weiss and the team had known Ruby was actually Yang's half-sister, but also knew that Yang hadn't met Ruby since she was 8 and Ruby was 6, so they didn't exactly grow up together.
A small wind gust had blown their way, and Weiss immediately made note of it "I will admit though it's a little chilly outside, I wish I had brought warmer apparel to wear today."
Gotcha. Yang said internally, finding her opening to have a little fun with Weiss. "Really? The Ice Princess not liking the cold? I'm surprised you're not out here in a swimsuit."
Weiss' scowl was immediately back on her face. "And here I was enjoying my walk for once, nice job Yang", with some obvious discontent in her voice.
Should have figured Yang of all people couldn't just leave a peaceful moment be. Sometimes she's worse than Ruby.
Okayyyyyyy, maybe 'Ice Princess' was too strong? Yang had tried to think of her next attempt very carefully. Maybe something more related to the both of us? Yea let's try that! Her charisma was already back as she prepared her next pun.
"Oh come on Weiss, no need to be so cold! Here, let me try to warm you up a bit." Yang began flaring her semblance ever so slightly, allowing heat to resonate around her, making the area considerably warmer.
First she ruins my walk with her teasing, now she goes and does something reckless like this? Weiss found herself upset at Yang's antics, remembering that she was related to Ruby, and apparently had the capacity to be just as childish.
"Will you stop it Yang!? In case you haven't noticed lately I don't exactly like the comments, so what makes you think I would now?"
Great, looks like my plans failed. Might as well try to calm her down before the whole forest hears us coming.
"Ok ok chill out Weiss, I was just trying too-"
Weiss was simply not in the mood for whatever Yang had to say and cut her off mid-sentence: "I don't want to hear it Xiao Long. I will never understand why you keep up this constant teasing nature you have about you everywhere you go. Honestly I feel like sometimes Ruby gets her childish antics from you more than her actual age!"
Oh boy, why did she have to bring Ruby into this? Yang could feel her eyes start to turn red from the anger, but forced herself to calm down, not needing to make Weiss any more angry then she already was. "Look I'm sorry, it's not that I mean to keep-"
Weiss decided to cut her off again. Not even thinking that Yang was about to explain her behavior, she continued with her rant. "Then why? Why do you keep doing this when it's so obvious that I never enjoy it and that it does nothing but bother the only person on our whole team with a brain?"
Yang couldn't control her temper anymore at this point. Her semblance was full on, her messy gold hair appearing with flames on the end, with Yang's eyes turning a full crimson red.
Weiss immediately realized what she said upon seeing Yang. Oh great, now I have to deal with the evil of the world and the wildfire over here.
It slightly crossed Weiss' mind that she just made a pun in her head, but seeing Yang in front of her she didn't have the chance to think much of it.
Yang was giving Weiss the same stare as the Ursa who had cut off part of her hair on their 2nd day at Beacon, and felt like doing what she did to it with Ember Celica. "IT'S THE ONLY WAY I KNOW HOW TO KEEP EVERYONE HAPPY OK?"
Wait…What?
Weiss looked as if the words hadn't phased her, but on the inside she was trying to comprehend what was said, not understanding what Yang meant.
"What on Earth are you talking about?" She said it a little more harshly then she would have liked, but the words were said nonetheless.
Yang kept her eyes closed, the flames around her hair slowly fading, and feeling her eyes slowly return to their original color. When she opened them next to look back at Weiss, some small tears had begun to form at the corners of her eyes.
Is Yang…crying?
Weiss had seen Yang fight countless Grimm, take constant hits, stare down the toughest foes with the same confident smirk on her face. But never in her life did Weiss ever imagine seeing Yang this vulnerable, this thrown off, this…alone…
"…It's not easy being a big sister figure, you know that?" Yang hadn't even noticed Weiss looking at her, or let alone where she stood. She was lost in her own emotions, as her mind began to unravel.
"When I first met R-Ruby, my dad told me about how she was my new sister, and it would be my job to love her and take care of her. For the past nine years of my life…I've given everything for her!" She could feel the anger coming back to her voice, but didn't try to restrain it. "She was always so sad and worried because of what happened to her mom, and I felt like I was a failure as a new sister. She had nothing…if I had shown one lack in confidence she would've felt lost, not knowing what was going on around her, and I would never let that happen to her, not again."
Weiss could realize that Yang wasn't exactly enjoying reliving these memories, so she tried her best in the moment to defuse the situation. "Look Yang, I'm sorry I had yelled at-"
Yang's Aura began to flare slightly as she pointed at Weiss, clear anger in her expression. "SHUT UP! It's my turn to speak here Princess!"
I've never seen Yang like this before…
Weiss hadn't known how to respond to the sudden outbreak, so she simply stood there shocked and let Yang continue.
"The only thing I could do to keep Ruby happy was give her every moment of my time I could. We would always come home from school, I would ask her how her day was and we would talk and play for hours until she fell asleep. I almost never saw my friends and did anything else but spend time with her." Weiss' expression slowly turned to a saddened understanding, realizing what Yang did for her sister. But Yang took no notice of it as she was nearing the end of her point.
"Ruby didn't have a life when I met her, so I gave her mine."
The words had penetrated Weiss like a bullet from Crescent Rose.
My god…Yang…
The flames on Yang's hair became more present, as her eyes got closer and closer to their previous shade of red. "All I've ever known is making Ruby happy, my whole life has been keeping a smile on her face…and that's the reason why I tease and joke as much as I do."
Her eye color was slowly returning to normal, but the flames on her hair stayed the way they were.
"I know the teasing bothers you, I really do. But when you've spent your entire life doing the same thing…i-it's hard to do anything differently." The held back tears slowly became more prevalent as her eye color began to return.
"I see you and Blake as my family too, not just Ruby. I care about you both just as much as I care for her, so I've just been doing the only thing I know h-how to do: try to make you all h-happy."
Weiss had stood there the whole time, trying to process all of what Yang had just said to her.
She…she did all that for Ruby. All the teasing and all the bad jokes…they were for Ruby…She couldn't imagine the idea of giving up her whole life for anyone, especially someone who wasn't completely blood related. And now she…she sees me as family. Even after everything I've said to the three of them, I'm still an important part of her life.
At any other point when Weiss would look at Yang, she would see an overconfident tom-boy who loved to make her angry. But now, as she stood there alone in front of her, all Weiss could see was a scared girl who was holding up a lot more than just herself.
Yang…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry
Yang had shut her eyes, trying her best to maintain her semblance and hold back the tears that were filling up inside. She nearly succeeded with her tears, with the exception of one or two from each eye as she forced them shut harder to try to avoid more.
Yang stood there waiting for her heat to die down from her semblance. She felt more surround her body, and focused on trying to make it die down. When it hadn't, she opened her eyes to see that it wasn't her semblance, but rather Weiss wrapping her arms around her.
She wasn't sure why Weiss had decided to hug her, but barely even could consciously think at that point. She unconsciously wrapped her arms back around the heiress as she let a few more stray tears fall down her cheeks, temporarily taking refuge from her overwhelming burdens in Weiss' arms.
The sight of Yang so upset had overwhelmed Weiss. She was rarely one to show any kind of outward affection, or even general emotion. But seeing Yang in that moment, something inside herself that she couldn't fathom had compelled her to go and comfort the brawler as best she could.
I do appreciate what you do for us Yang, I always have. I may not enjoy the teasing, but I know you're part of what's keeping this team together. She couldn't bring herself to say that aloud, and rather just focused to keep her focus on the embrace she was giving Yang, not wanting to ruin the moment.
At some unknown time later, Yang could finally feel the heat extinguish from her hair, Weiss taking notice as well. "Thanks for helping me cool down Weiss." Yang hadn't realized it was a pun when she said it, she had meant it to be genuine.
Yang hadn't expected what came next:
A stray chuckle from the heiress.
It took Yang a second to process the sound that came from the uptight white-haired girl's lips. Once she had realized what it was, there was only one word that had been running through her mind, over and over again. A grin slowly re-appeared on her once sad face, but not saying anything to break her contact with Weiss. She wasn't sure why she hadn't wanted to break their hug, but didn't question it.
Slowly breaking from the shared embrace, Weiss and Yang took another look at their scrolls and figured they should pick up the pace, the time already reaching past 3:15 and not having fought a single Grimm. As they went into a slow run continuing their route, that same word still was still going through Yang's mind.
Success.
A/N Didn't expect I was talking about Yang before huh? :3
I'll be honest I was originally gonna make it about Weiss and being alone, but I figured that was a bit too easy and Yang wouldn't exactly be able to say much, or at least I couldn't do Weiss being lonely and all this without making the chapter like 3 times as long xD. Don't fret, Weiss' loneliness side will come through soon, just not this early on. I will admit though, this was definitely a bit longer then I was expecting originally, I actually managed to write a lot.
Anyways I hope you all enjoyed what I wrote for ya here! Make sure to favorite and or follow if you like the story and or want to support me as I keep writing the story, and make sure to Review with any kind of feedback or ideas as the story goes on, any and all criticism is appreciated :)
Hope you liked it!
Andrew (135246)
Also once again, I do not own or have any part in the organization of RWBY. It is owned and created by our buddies at RoosterTeeth and our lord and savior Monty Oum. I am merely an avid watcher who wishes to write about my thoughts.