Chapter 7

Yang stared.

"What do you think?" Emmet asked.

"It's… amazing."

In front of her sitting on white cloth was a right arm. The skin tone was correct… It would be like nothing happened.

"Miss Xiao Long?" She turned to the man. "Are you prepared for me to-"

"Yes!" She squeaked out. He smiled at her and began to coat her stump in a white goo.

"Now this is going to hurt."

Yang was about to ask how much when she screamed. White hot fire surged up her right arm, it was later she realised she could feel it in the prosthetic as well.

After the feeling started to dissipate Yang fell over her knees panting.

"Well you handed it better than most." Delilah said as she began to clean the white goo off. Looking at it Yang noticed the red, she had apparently bled. "I assume, Conroy never mentioned how much it would hurt?"

"Why'd I do that?" the woman glared at the man. Not because of his flippant reply but because he spoke while eating a cookie. Delilah apparently had an issue with bad manners. The man swallowed and took Yang's new hand in his. Looking at it… it looked like she had never lost a hand. "I'm going to need you to squeeze my hand."

Yang nodded and did so. The man swore and did his best to pull himself out of her grip.

"So-sorry!" Yang yelped letting go. The man shook his hand out. At first it moved… wrongly like the bones were broken but as he shook it, it seemed to fix itself.

"That…" Conroy picked up her hand, with mild wariness. He looked over it curiously. "Delilah look!" The white haired Faunus leaned over and raised her eye brow. Yang looked down at her new arm to see strange symbols drawn into it, glowing orange and yellow.

It reminded Yang a lot of the fire like energy that flowed around her when her semblance was active.

"Umm… What does this mean?" the wizard and assistant looked at one and other.

"You are a curious thing, Miss Xiao Long." Emmet muttered more to himself.

"Were you aware of your high mana reserve?" Delilah asked. Yang shook her head. "Your eyes are lilac again." She added the observation with a hmm.

Yang blinked, it made sense or at least something close to sense.

"My eyes turn red when my semblance is active-" she was going to ask if it would have affected her new arm when Emmet grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Your semblance? What is it?" he asked, the blond girl wasn't sure if it was in panic or excitement.

"Well…" Yang pulled herself away. "When I'm hurt I become more powerful. It's also effected by my anger." The two looked at each other again. "So… I was thinking that maybe my arm got stronger?" Emmet just laughed and Delilah stared.

"Perhaps." The man said before his assistant could speak. They shared a look. "Still, I am going to look into this."

Emmet stood up and Delilah took that to mean she should pack up their things.

"Miss Xiao Long, I want you to use your right arm as much as possible. It should feel as if you never lost it." the man smiled at her and patted her on the head. "Tell me if anything like this happens again." The last words were very serious.

Once the conversation was over, Yang chose to return to her room for a little while and to clean herself up. It was odd to think about using her right hand, it did feel like she had never lost her arm. She also noticed that the symbols from earlier had completely disappeared, there was no sign of them.

The way Emmet acted bothered her. She had a feeling he knew more then he said, but had no plan to share.

"You are a curious thing, Miss Xiao Long."

Originally Emmet had made her feel at home, like she was speaking with her father. However, the more they spoke the more he made her think of Professor Ozpin. This clear feeling that he knows more then you and that you just have to trust that he also knows better than you. She had never had much contact with the head master of Beacon but…

There was a knock on her door.

Before she could say "enter" the door was open. Clark was standing in the door way panting.

"Hi?" Yang waved she used her right hand. The boy rushed up to her and pulled her new arm towards him. He started looking over it. It was so strange how the prosthetic felt like flesh. How it felt like she had never lost her arm, a bad dream if anything.

After a moment Clark let go smiling, he looked relieved.

"I was with my father when… when you screamed."

"I'm okay, Clark…" her eyes darted to the side, it felt… good he was so worried about her- it was nice her friend cared so much.

An awkward silence followed.

"Do you want to come with me to show Salem?"

"Yes!" The reply was almost instantaneous like he was looking for a way to end the silence himself.

/

The second Salem opened the door she grabbed Yang by the new arm and started looking at it. She ran her fingers up and down.

"Umm… You know, I'm going to start questioning things if you keep doing that." Salem blinked and stopped clearly embarrassed.

"Sorry… Just it's so well done, in such a short time?" She shook her head in awe. "This…" Salem looked like a child with the greatest birthday present in existence just feet away. With a cough from Clark she seemed to come back to her senses. "Sorry… You know I'm best with runes and crafting." That was true, it had taken a while for the girl to admit the cloth she used for Yang's clothes was her own make.

"What Salem's getting at is she's amazed at what Conroy can do." Apparently at some point Emmet had rubbed Clark the wrong way, knowing the man's temperament Yang assumed that he'd just pushed Clark's politeness to its limit.

"So she's a fan girl?" the other two stared at her clearly confused. "Never mind. So what now?"

Salem glanced at Clark with a curious expression on her face. She looked like she wanted to say something but he shook his head and walked into the cottage. Before Yang could ask the girl turned and followed him.

"I feel like this is one of those times where you two have had a conversation without me. That's totally fine by the way." The blonde's eyes narrowed. "Except I have the feeling this is about me." Clark glared at Salem, something Yang had never seen before.

"I think you need to train." Salem stated. "Part of that would be sparing." She returned the lone male's gaze with a smirk. "And I know a very capable fighter." Yang turned and stared at Clark.

"Wait… You can fight?"

Clark rolled his eyes.

"As per usual, everyone assumes I cannot fight." Salem started laughing. Looking between the pair the time traveller grew excited.

"Well come on!" The blond called out as she ran to the door.

"Are we sure that's wise?" Clark called after her.

"It's a sparring match Clark! I need to start training again." She gave him a coy smile and a shrug. "You just need to play along and put me through my paces." She wondered if she had put a little too much into that, his expression was a little dumbfounded.

In the end he sighed and gave her a good natured smile. He then pulled out a small metal rod and with a click it became the silver bow staff she hadn't seen since the day they met.

Without another word Yang was out of the cottage.

/

"It's so sweet how you can't deny her." Clark gritted his teeth, he could not ignore Salem's words. Not when he spent the morning having his feelings on his impending engagement challenged. "What's that expression?"

"Father thinks we are too close." Clark explained. "Keep an eye on her once the royal family arrive. I won't have as much time for her as before and Emmet's interest worries me." The little white haired girl looked out her cottage door.

"Will you not have enough time…? Or is it that Alice won't like the way you look at her?"

"I love her… Alice! I love Alice." Clark snapped glaring at his friend, soon he regained his composure. He knew he was lying to Salem about this. But his friend would only worry if she knew he didn't really have romantic feelings for the girl. "Look, I will admit to being attracted to her, Yang is beautiful. But… Attraction and love are two different things."

"You have so little experience in either, I wonder if you can tell them apart." In anger Clark pointed his bow staff's tip at the girl.

"I am sick of this Salem, get to the point or is this another one of your musings?" when the girl didn't reply Clark headed out of the house, he didn't wait for her.

Once he located Yang looking at some sunflowers that Salem was growing he led her further into the Western Woods. He could hear Salem following behind them.

Clark was apprehensive about this, He didn't know Yang's level of skill and if her new arm would change anything. The idea of hurting his friend bothered him, he expected that was because she was a woman. He had never had much trouble slamming Prince Lorens into the dirt during sparing matches.

Soon they were at the clearing he had been looking for. It was large, surrounded with trees but was ultimately clear of debris. The sun was high in the sky; it was likely they would miss lunch but Clark didn't want to see his father right now.

"Ready?" he asked Yang. He noticed that the bracelet she wore on her left wrist transformed. It elongated into some sort of gauntlet. Yang herself moved into some sort of stance he didn't know. It seemed she was a fist fighter but he had never seen this style before.

He was prepared for anything.

She smirked at him and ran forward.

/

As she moved in to land a punch she found Clark gone. Looking to her left she had to block quickly with Ember Celica, the pressure from his strike with his bow staff was immense. He wasn't going to make this easy and it was clear he really was a powerful fighter.

Pushed back Yang swept her leg quickly. Once again Clark dodged but this time he spun with her. Yang had to jump down to dodge the bow staff. However, in doing so she attempted to sweep her leg again.

This led her to meeting the staff again.

So instead of trying something fancy she instead just grabbed it and slammed it on the ground. The unceremonious way that Clark hit the ground got a giggle from Salem. He coughed and picked himself up.

"That was unexpected." He admitted, bouncing on his feet a little. He waited for her to stand back up before rushing forward. She moved to block, however, instead of attacking Clark stopped right in front of her.

"Huh?" His stance reminded her somewhat of Weiss's. He smirked at her before he started quickly jabbing at her stomach. She moved to defend herself with Ember Celica but due to habit also used her right arm.

She let out a grunt and Clark stopped his attack.

"Miss Xiao Long?" He asked. The pain in her arm was immense like she had taken a hit to a real body part. She was starting to see the double edginess of the kind of prosthetic used in this time.

Her arm looked and acted as if she had never lost it.

However, her arm felt just as it used to. She had to get used to only having one Ember Celica. Until she got back to her time and could use the other gauntlet.

"I'm fine." She called, pulling herself up she started to feel her semblance acting up. "I'm used to having two gauntlets when I fight not one." She added.

Clark gave a nod and moved back into his fighting stance.

"How do you move so fast?" the boy smirked at her again. She hadn't ever seen him like this.

"My semblance… More than that though? You'll have to figure out for yourself."

"Even I don't know." Salem added from behind Yang.

The blond smiled back at the boy and moved back into her stance. She was starting to feel the new power running through her. Clark was fast and he could hit hard. However, his whole strategy revolved around keeping away from her. In her experience that usually meant he could only take a few hard hits and her hits were about to get a lot harder.

Yang moved forward and found the bow staff between her and Clark at all times. The boy redirected her attacks left and right watching her move. Left and right she danced, never getting any closer.

So she grabbed onto the bow staff again, starting to get a little frustrated.

Expecting this Clark moved quickly spinning around in an attempt to send Yang flying. She held on looking for a good place… Narrowing her eyes she hit the tree and bounced.

This sent them both flying into another tree.

Annoyingly Clark landed on his feet.

"Your semblance?" She asked, he held out his hand for her. He chuckled softly.

"It has its uses, another round?" Yang stood up on her own and walked to the other side of the clearing. She returned to her stance. "Your eyes are red again." Clark remarked.

It seemed she had taken enough damage… and was frustrated enough, a quick look down told her the symbols on her arm hadn't appeared again.

"Yeah, they do that when my semblance activates." Yang ran towards Clark again as she finished. She punched and was blocked by the bow staff. This time she thrusted herself towards it. This put Clark off balance and sent his bow staff into the ground like a javelin.

Yang expected to get the upper hand, at least for a moment. However, Clark quickly sprung up the staff and used the momentum to jump over her.

He ended the bout by pulling her against his chest, the staff at her throat.

"You are very skilled Miss Xiao Long." He was breathing heavily. Yang gulped as his breath tickled her ear.

Suddenly she was very aware of his body heat at her back and the sound of his breathing. At quick look and she met his eyes, brown and laughing. He was clearly excited from the match.

"Yield!" Yang got out after a second. The staff was gone from her throat just as fast. Yang moved away from the boy and over to a tree. She leaned against it and did her best to get her breath back.

"Miss Xiao Long are you alright?" She could hear Clark walking towards her, him being close was the last thing she wanted right now.

So she took a deep breath and turned with a bright practiced smile.

"I'm fine, I haven't spared properly for months though." She explained, that seemed to calm Clark down slightly. However, Salem didn't seem convinced. "Salem was right though… You are good."

She gave him a playful wink and watched his face go red. The boy had no chance against a girl who knew what she was doing.

Was that what she wanted?

Ignoring herself she looked up. The sun wasn't too high.

"I'm going to head back… You know, lunch and all that." Yang scampered off before either of them could say anything.

Yang didn't go to lunch when she returned to the house. Instead filled the basin in her bathroom with water Dust activated it and promptly threw her head in.

She let out a frustrated scream that came out like a gurgled mess. Someone pulled her out of the water then.

Yang turned pissed towards the person. Skitty jumped back shaking.

"Oh…" Yang said, she took a deep breath and calmed herself. "Sorry, Skitty." The girl, still a little wary picked up a towel and held it up to Yang. She took it and the girl lead her out into her room.

There she found lunch sitting on the little table. The Faunus looked between her and the table, asking if it was okay.

"Thanks Skitty." Yang said, a warm smile coming to her lips. She sat down and for once had no trouble serving herself. She stared out the window while she ate, unsure.

The time traveller sighed. Her reaction to Clark hadn't been something she was used too, what actually happened? She had fought attractive men before but she had never just… freaked out. The worst part was who was she going to talk about this with? Her friends were Salem and Clark. Apart from the fact the two were practically siblings (so talking about this would put Salem in an awkward position.) Neither were particularly socialised… She doubted they would be any help.

Shaking her head, she thought about dunking herself in water again but she was worried that Skitty would find her again and freak out.

Speaking of the Faunus. The girl made an appearance almost an hour later to clear away the plates.

"Thanks." Yang said, the girl smiled. However, before she could leave Yang stopped her. "Hey any chance I could talk to you about something?" the Faunus put down the dishes and nodded.

Looking at the girl the blond figured she was no older then thirteen and likely had no clue about what Yang was going to talk to her about. But she needed to talk to someone and her other options were not really options.

"So… This like doesn't leave the two of us… you get it? You never… tell anyone else this." The girl gave a quick nod, Yang wondered if Skitty could tell someone else this, she never spoke or gave any indication she could.

Yang took a deep breath and sat down on her bed.

"Look… You've probably heard all the rumours about me and Clark right?" the girl blinked. "The short version -if you haven't- is that everyone assumes we are involved because… I'm a girl he's a guy. I mean people thought I was just trying to get in his pants for money."

Yang shook her head.

"That's not it… He's helping me. He's quickly become one of my best friends. He's just so awkward… always trying to do the right thing. I mean to the point I want to throttle him for being so proper." She smiled to herself, looking over she could see that Skitty was still listening.

"He's only called me Yang maybe once… When he was trying to comfort me, when he promised he would do everything in his power to help me." She threw herself back onto the bed. "It's so odd to meet someone who just wants to help because they can. He's just so not my type… Or maybe he is? He's a strong fighter who doesn't settle for anything. He's willing to put his neck on the line for his friends and not to mention he's… Incredibly good looking when you get a good look at him." Yang had to admit if she hadn't taken that chance to check him out she might not have been in this position now… Also probably should not have realised he was built… Or gotten into the position she had while they were sparing…

She could see Skitty staring at her, obviously worried.

"I realised today… I realise I like him… In a way that could be love. I don't know and I don't know what to do…"

The little Faunus walked over and took her hand.

"Usually I'd just flirt and make him mine, he's so innocent. I mean it would be easy. But that's not an option because I can't ruin his life!" Yang looked up at the celling. "He has a princess! He loves her, I can't expect him to give up that for me! I can't just flirt with him, take away his future with her… especially because… Because…" Because I'm going back to my time eventually, he'll… he'll be dead by then. "Because I am going to be leaving. I'll be gone and we will never be able to see each other again."

The little hand on hers gripped tighter. Skitty did something Yang didn't expect. She broke into tears and grabbed onto her. The little Faunus snuggled in close and held on for dear life.

"Don't… Don't leave me." Her voice was disused, a horse whisper. "Take me with you… I'll be good."

The time traveller wrapped her arms around the little girl, feeling her big sister side take over and did everything she could to calm her down. If she could she would take Skitty to her time. Maybe it wasn't perfect for a Faunus but they were free.

But that wasn't an option was it? Fooling around with time had consequences, she couldn't stay and she couldn't take Skitty with her. But that didn't mean she couldn't do something to take care of the girl.

"Skitty listen to me." She said softly. The big green eyes looked up at her. "I can't take you with me." The head was quickly buried in her chest. "But I'll take care of you. I'll make sure you have a safe home."

Maybe the little girl could go live with Salem? The white haired girl was a little rough around the edges but she was kind. She would also likely understand a little of what Skitty felt.

Maybe Emmet? He was definitely good to Delilah. But that might just be because the woman was his assistant. Because she knew what she was doing. He might not be so kind to someone like Skitty.

Skitty hugged Yang tighter.

That told the time traveller she needed to have this worked out. She couldn't leave the girl in the place she was. This could not be an empty promise.