A/N: So… It's been awhile, and I guess that deserves some explanation.
"GREY!" Yang's voice pierced my slumber.
"What? I'm…" I yawn before getting thrown on to Yang's shoulder. "What the hell Yang?"
"We're sparring, now." She growls, "Get your gear on." She demands, dropping me on my ass.
I try and think what I did...Oh shit, I guess it's who I did in this case.
"Oh, you're mad about…" I say, pointing at Ruby.
She nods, her eyes fiery red, "Let's go."
"What did you think would happen if you left us alone on her birthday?" I say, "You even winked at me last night."
"So you did have sex with my sister?"
I stand, my eyes level with hers, "Yes."
Her hair glows with the activation of her semblance, "I won't ask again, get your gear, we're sparring."
I grab my training gear, "Fine, if you insist" I say, popping my arm back into place.
Ruby stirs, "Sierra, come back to bed." She says, sleepily.
I walk over to her, "I'll be back in a little bit, but I have to take care of something first. Go back to sleep." I murmur, kissing her forehead.
"What's going on?" She says, wiping the sleep from her eyes, "Is that…"
She says, her eyes widening when she sees the color of her sister's eyes.
"Yang I asked her to, don't…"
"No Ruby," I say, pulling on my weighted training clothes, "Yang and I are fighting. I want to prove to her that I can protect you."
"Is that what this is about Yang?"
"That's part of it, but you wouldn't understand the rest sis."
She slides out of bed, "Then explain it to me."
"This isn't something I have explain to you." She yells at her sister, "You ready?" She asks me calmly.
I pull my sheaths on, but leave my swords on my worktable, "Born ready."
She motions to the blades, "You're going to want those."
My eyes narrow, "All out?"
She nods, and I slip my blades into their sheaths, "You will never win this fight."
"If I win, you break up with my sister."
"What gives you the right to decide that?" Ruby exclaims.
"If I win, you break up with Blake. Deal?" I say, extending my hand.
"Sierra, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Ruby says, placing herself between me and her sister.
"Stay out of this, if she wants me to lose the one I love, she has to be willing to do the same." I say, moving her from between us.
Yang takes a deep breath and tries to punch me, I catch her fist in my hand.
Twisting her arm behind her back, I ask, "I take it the deal's off then?"
"We're still fighting, but your relationship is not on the line." She says, and I let her go. She walks over and opens the door.
"Yang, tell me what this is about." Ruby pleads.
She stops before she leaves the door frame, "I'm worried about you dating a monster Ruby. I'm even more worried about your name being added to the 78 others."
My aura sparks, "Now you've crossed a line Yang. Being mad about what Ruby and I did is one thing, but that's a whole different ballgame." My hair floating up as my aura flares.
"This happens no where near my sister." Yang says, arming Ember Celica.
"If we're going all out, the normal training room might be a little...weak. Follow me." I say.
"Wait!" Ruby calls as the two of us walk out.
I take up a slow run, Yang following quickly behind me. I lead us through several classrooms, past the armory, and up two flights of stairs before we lose Ruby. I guide us through several of Beacon's back hallways until we'd circled to the rear of the main tower. I stop when we reach our destination. In front of us is a door branded with the words, "STAFF ONLY."
"I'm not supposed to let students in here, and there will more than likely be repercussions for both of us. You sure you still want to do this?"
Her face is a stone wall, "I'm training to kill monsters, might as well get one in early."
I type in my access code, let the two of us in, and seal the door behind us.
"Welcome to the staff dueling room Yang. One of the most state of the art combat arenas in all of Vale, and one of the strongest." I say, tapping on the metal wall with my automail. "Nothing short of a one megaton explosion could break these walls, so let's see how close we get."
I pull my blades as Yang takes her stance, "You'd better go gold. I wouldn't want to make you cry after the first hit." Yang mocks.
"I suggest you go get a tighter bra so your tits don't knock you out before I do." I scoff back.
Her hair glows and her eyes go an even darker shade of red, "Aw did I make Blondie Bimbo mad?" I mock, putting on a fake pout.
Without warning, she fires several shots in my direction. I roll to the side, transmuting a shield from the floor in front of me. The shield shatters as Yang pounds it with round after round. I stand and begin deflecting her shots with my blades, leaving indents in the floor around my feet.
"I thought you wanted all out? You didn't even give me time to use Ascension." I say, my blades resting at my sides.
"You can use it whenever you want, but I'm gonna kick your ass while you're charging up."
"So you know you can't beat me when I'm 100%?"
"Of course, I'm not stupid."
"I'm not so sure," I taunt, "You are blonde after all."
Waves of heat start to pour across the room, and I almost have to hold my hand over my eyes to look at Yang as she goes supernova.
"How long have you been charging up for this?"
"Since our fight with that mech suit." She grunts out as her aura begins to stabilize.
"I guess I should ask, when did you decide you wanted to kill me?"
"When I figured out how unstable you were. Your display at the Parker's is what decided it. The chance of you losing it and hurting my sister is far too high, so I need to do something."
"Attempting to kill me is your solution?"
"Attempting to kill you is to make you scared. You won't touch her if you're scared of me."
"I won't touch her regardless. This is you being unable to accept that your little sister is growing up! She's mature enough to make her own decisions and you're trying to rule over her. You're in denial!" I yell, raising one of my blades at her.
"No, I just want to protect her and keep her happy."
"And severely injuring her girlfriend is the way to keep her happy?!"
"It's what needs to be done."
"You say I'm the monster. You're the one trying to control your sister, and keep her from being happy. In the end, Ruby decides who she's with, and though you should have a say, it's her decision to make."
"Shove it." She says, "We're ending this here and now, my sister's opinion doesn't change that."
"Fine, but understand that no matter the outcome, Ruby will still be mad at both of us."
Click, click, I hear as a new set of shells slides into Ember Celica's chambers.
"That's the way it's gonna be huh?" I think, readying myself.
She charges and I deflect with my right arm, spinning to slash at her back. She takes the hit and a small amount of blood oozes from the wound. I backstep away from her and watch as the heat from her semblance sears the wound close.
"You will seriously hurt her if you continue to use your swords." James comments.
"I know, but if I take time to put them away, she'll gun me down." I say, dodging another several round burst from Yang.
I clap, transmuting a box around myself and placing my swords on the floor, "They'll be safe here."
The box rattled around me as Yang laid into the outside with her fists, so I blink behind her and get a strong hit to her shoulder. She spins, her eyes burning bright red, and uppercuts me in the in the stomach. I spit a bit, and block her next hit with my forearm.
"I'll kill you if you don't go all out." She screams, throwing punch after punch.
"Maybe I'm alright with dying if it means I'm not hurting my friend!" I yell, catching her fist, flipping her over my head, and slamming her to the floor. I jerk back, as Yang's semblance scorched my normal hand. She sweeps her legs, dropping mine out from under me. I wrench my head to the side just as Yang's fist slams into the floor where my head was. I use both legs and throw her away from me. I get to my feet, and take my defensive stance.
"She will outlast you if her semblance is active." James interrupts.
"She'll win and kill me."
"What the hell are you playing at then?"
"I want to see if she'll do it."
"How stupid…" He starts before I block him out.
In the time I'd been talking, Yang had staggered to her feet, her aura still giving off massive amounts of heat. The two of us lock eyes and begin to charge at each other. We meet in the middle, the aura covering our fists spraying sparks as the two opposing forces collide at high speed. I meet her blow for blow, each time narrowly avoiding getting hit somewhere critical.
"You're...really...not...holding...any...punches." I say, each pause indicative
of a block or return punch.
I keep meeting her punch for punch, but my automail was definitely feeling the effects, "I'm going to need some major repairs after this one."
I decide to take a different approach. I bear her next hit, and roundhouse kick her in the chest. She wheezes as I aim another kick for her shoulder, which she uses both arms to block.
"That's what I thought. She's a brawler, so she not used to a large amount of kicks."
I throw another kick at her shoulder, which she moves to block before I go for the feint and slam my leg down into her kneecap. She winces and drops to her knees, one hand clutching her injury, the other firing at me with Ember Celica. I manage to deflect one with my automail, the other slams into my regular shoulder. It was clearly aura charged as I brace my hand over the spot it hit.
"Fuck, that stings. She's wasn't lying about going all out. I guess I shouldn't underestimate her." I think.
I transmute the front plate of my automail into a short blade, and I rush at Yang again. She meets my makeshift sword with Ember Celica. I get my blade behind her left gauntlet and pull back, throwing the weapon from her wrist. She goes to hit with her right, but I dodge it and drop to the floor. I quickly transmute the floor around Yang's feet to hold her in place. I deflect her next three shots and dive towards the fallen weapon. Sliding the gauntlet onto my own arm, I fire a shot which Yang deflects with her portion of the weapon. She slams her fist into the floor, shattering the shackles around her ankles, and charges me again. I duck under her strike and slam my left elbow into her jaw. Her lip started bleeding and she spits a small amount on the floor before we clash again. I go to hit before she spits some in my eyes. I wipe it away just in time to see Yang's fist smash my injured shoulder, and Ember Celica fire. The force throws me back, and I land on my injured shoulder. I hold my hand up to it and feel a warm liquid flow over my fingers. "She broke skin with that hit, and probably threw out my shoulder. A nice play, disrupting my aura and following it up with a slug."
"I guess playtime is over…" I say, the metallic smell of blood filling my nostrils.
"You ready?" I ask James.
"If I must be…" He mumbles.
I align with him and release the combined power, my aura arching and turning its ascended golden hue. The rapid increase instantly stopping the stream of blood from my shoulder.
"It doesn't have to be this way Yang." I say, taking stance once more.
"Like hell! If I let you continue, Ruby will get hurt."
"I don't know where you got that in your head, but it's not gonna happen. Not now, not ever."
I let her charge again, deflecting blow after blow, only to catch a punch to the cheek and stumble as she presses her offense. A quick jab to my stomach and she's got me doubled over, but I catch her elbow as she tries to slam it into my neck. I was tempted to break her arm and end this, but I know that it would just prove her point. I blink behind her, and flick the back of her head. By the time she spins, I had already blinked behind her again and pulled her hair. I laugh as she tries to punch me and I fend off every hit with one hand. Every hit, I feel her aura gain a small amount of power and I let her keep going so that she would have some chance of fighting me.
"This isn't even fun…"
"This is what happens when you're so far above your opponent. No one can touch you…"
"You bitch!" She screams, throwing another onslaught of punches my way. I grab her arm and quickly apply some aura to its surface.
"What did you…" She asks, her arm frozen.
"I locked the aura covering your arm," I smirk, "You're not moving it unless I undo the lock."
She roars, her semblance scorching the area around her feet, and she begins flexing the arm I had just frozen.
"Really? I seem to be moving it just fine."
"So you were paying attention during our lessons? I thought Blake's choice of attire may have distracted you."
"She does look good in short shorts, but that's not why we're here."
"You're the one getting off topic. You're here to try and kill me. I'm here to mess around until you tire yourself out, or I get too bored and leave."
"You think I'm just going to let you leave?"
"You mean like this?" I say, blinking to the cafeteria.
The entire cafeteria looked up as I appeared at the coffee counter, "Can I get a small mocha latte with a shot of espresso please?"
The lady looked terrified, but she quickly prepared my drink. "Here you go," I say handing her my id, "Charge it to my school account."
She swipes the card and hands it back to me, while I grab my drink from the counter.
"Thank you." I say, blinking back to the sparring arena.
The look on Yang's face was somewhere in between pure rage and slight intrigue.
"What? I always need some coffee or tea to start my day, and you didn't give me time to make my own."
"You've got to be fucking kidding me? Is our fight to the death some fucking game to you?"
"If I'm honest, yeah. You have no chance, and I mean no chance, to beat me. I didn't want to fight you in the first place, so I don't see why this has to continue."
"Because I have to keep my sister…"
"Safe. Blah blah blah, can you stop using that as your excuse already? If you were really concerned about Ruby, you could have her taken out of classes and returned to Signal. Then she'd be nowhere near me, and your problem's solved. But that's not the problem. Your problem is someone else being able to protect Ruby better than you. Someone who's stronger to the point of you being useless. And you're afraid of what's going to happen once someone decides they want to take a shot a me. The logical thing for someone to do is find my weak point, Ruby being that weak point. The thing I would give anything, even my own life, to protect. Anyone trying to get me would come for her as well, and you know you can't stop them."
"If you understand that, then why are you staying with her?"
"Because she wouldn't let me leave. I asked her about it, said I was thinking about breaking up with her for her own protection. I'm pretty sure she would have slapped me if I wasn't bedridden with pneumonia. It didn't matter to her. She felt she could handle whatever or whoever would come after me."
"I don't care what she thinks, you're dangerous on all fronts, and I can't let her stay with you."
"Here we go again with the "I'm dangerous" crap. You really think Ozpin would let me teach here if I was any sort of threat to his students?
"Now you bring Ozpin into this. I don't care what anyone else thinks. You're a danger to yourself and to everyone around you."
I go to say something, but she interrupts, "No more talk, let's finish this." She says, squaring up against me.
"Fine by me." I say, arming Ember Celica's cuff on my arm.
Meanwhile…(Ruby P.O.V)
"Where the hell did they go?" I think, trying to follow their trail.
"Damn it! I don't sense their auras either. I have to stop them before they do something stupid. Who do I go to? Port? No, Weiss? maybe, Ozpin? He'd know where Sierra went."
I throw on my semblance and run as fast as I can to the administration wing, trying to avoid hitting students as I run. I make it in under a minute, and knock on the door to Ozpin's office. Miss Goodwitch answers it, "Miss Rose, you do realize you're still in your sleepwear don't you?"
"Yes mam, but I need to see the headmaster. It's urgent."
"If you rushed all the way down here in your nightgown, it must be. Come in." She says, pulling the door closed behind me.
I follow behind her as she opens the inner door for Ozpin's office, "Miss Ross is here to see you. She says it's urgent."
"You're up awfully early Miss Rose, is something wrong?"
"My sister challenged Sierra to a fight, and I don't know where they would have gone."
"They didn't go to the training room?"
"My sister wanted to go all out, and Sierra didn't think the normal training room would survive a fight like that, so they went somewhere and I can't find them. I don't sense their auras anywhere." I say, frantically.
"I would have to assume my niece used her semblance to take your sister someplace to fight if you can't sense them here."
"Can you tell me where she might have gone?"
"I don't believe it would be wise for you to try and intervene. I'm assuming something happened between you and my niece that your sister didn't approve of?"
I lightly nod yes, "Well then stopping them now would only serve to fan the flames. It would only be a matter of time before they would fight again.
"But Yang…"
"I know you're worried, but I doubt they'll do anything too reckless."
"I'd still like to know where they are. Just in case."
Ozpin sighs, "They are more than likely in the staff dueling arena. Students aren't supposed to know about it or be allowed in, which will more than likely mean I have to punish Sierra and Miss Xiao Long."
"Wait, they're still at the school?"
"I would wager so."
"Then, why can't I sense them?"
"The walls of the arena are made of a special dust-metal alloy. Aura tends to bounce off of it."
"That explains it. Can you show me where it is?" I say, slightly desperate.
"Not unless it is absolutely necessary. You really don't have anything to be…" He explains.
I feel Sierra's ascended aura appear, the sheer power sends shivers down my spine, but as quickly as it appeared, it vanished. Ozpin stops when he sees me shiver, "Is something…"
"Sir, one of the cafeteria attendants just called up. Apparently a girl surrounded by a massive golden aura just appeared, purchased a drink, and disappeared." Goodwitch states, after peeking her head in the door.
"Sierra…" I say, confirming my suspicions.
"I doubt my niece would do anything too drastic against her girlfriend's sister, so I think it would be best for you to wait and go down after they've cooled off."
"Ok, if you're sure. Is it alright if I stay and talk with you until then?" I ask.
"About my niece?"
I nod, "Have a seat." He offers, motioning to the chair in front of his desk.
"What would you like to know?"
"Why did you ask her to come here and teach? Her being a student I understand, but you making her a teacher doesn't make sense. She's so young."
"Would you like to know the reason I would tell her or the actual reason?"
"Both if it isn't too much trouble."
"I told her it's because of her skill as a warrior, but the actual reason is because I didn't have the chance to ask her father."
"How could you imply she's not…"
"That is not to say Sierra isn't a good warrior." He interrupts, "She's one of the best I've seen at her age, you being a close second. However, she's hot tempered and overconfident, which will get her hurt when she faces an opponent stronger than she is. She's immature on occasion, and that's not something I would usually allow in one of my staff."
"Then why did you allow it?"
"You've seen her teach first hand, and she seems to have quite the knack for it. I couldn't have imagined she would be as good at it as she is, especially without social interaction for most of her life. The Grey family home being on the top of a mountain certainly limits the amount of human contact."
"Speaking of Grey, can you tell me about Sierra's parents?"
"I'm assuming you've asked her and she didn't want to talk about it?"
I shake my head no, "She's talked about them," I say, "but I want to know about their time here at Beacon, how they became so strong."
"They were both high calibre warriors before arrival to Beacon. Her mother came to Beacon with nothing but the clothes on her back, never talking about where she came from or why she was here. Her father had been disowned by his family after he wanted to go to Beacon instead of Atlas' academy. They couldn't accept he wouldn't go, so they left him to the wolves...literally. I never got a straight answer from either of them on why they were trained in the way they were or who trained them. All I know is that they both didn't like to talk about their own parents or childhood. I, personally, met them after initiation was over, and they were already planning how to get good marks on the first combat exam. The two were practically made for each other, so it was no surprise when the two of them got together in a romantic sense. Is that what you wanted to know?"
"If I'm honest, I was hoping for more."
"Any particular reason?"
"I want to train with whoever they did. I want to be on level with Sierra."
"Is her teaching not enough?"
"For anyone else, yes, but not for me. I'm always looking to get stronger, and she's one of the strongest people I've ever met. She was trained by her parents, who I can only assume were trained by their parents. I want to find the source."
"I'm afraid the only people who could tell you that aren't with us anymore. Regardless, I doubt any amount of training would put you on level with her now. Her ascended state puts her aura level above the top ten hunters and huntresses we have."
"I know, but…" I stop.
"Continue."
"I don't want to be useless if someone tries to hurt her." I admit, sadly. "With how powerful she is, someone is bound to try and find a way to get to her. I don't want to be that way."
"I understand, but right now your focus should be to become the best huntress you can be. Not trying to compete with my niece."
"I just…want to protect her. She's saved my life once, and in the event she's in trouble, I want to be able to return the favor."
"I'm sure you can help her in other ways than that." He says before leaning close, "Like helping her cope with what happened while she was kidnapped."
"She said she never told anyone before she met Team RWBY, so how did you know about…"
"I didn't, you just told me." He says solemnly, "I've had my suspicions that something more than what she has told me went on while she was kidnapped. You simply confirmed that is the case."
"You should have confirmed it a long time ago!" I yell, placing my hands on his desk. "She's been suffering on her own for so long and you, the only family she has left, didn't do anything!"
"That's not the best tone to take with your headmaster."
"I'm not yelling at my headmaster, I'm yelling at my girlfriend's uncle. You didn't consider that the bodies at their house could have been fake, you didn't ask her what happened after she made it known she was alive, and you let her suffer with the guilt of what she had to do for years!"
"How dare…"
"How dare me? How dare you call yourself her uncle! You...You bast..."
Before I could finish, the walls start to shake. The tremors nearly knocking me off balance.
"What was that?" Miss Goodwitch says, bursting into the room.
I look to Ozpin, "You need to take me to her now, right now!"
He takes a long sip of his coffee, "We'll discuss your unruly tone and what you nearly said once this is over. Follow me." He says, standing.
He takes up a quick pace, and I follow him. He led me through some places of the school that I didn't know existed, all the while getting closer to the source of the tremors. We reached a metal door, and Ozpin enters a code into the terminal beside the door. The door slowly slides open, and I watch in horror as my sister was slammed through a metal box embedded in the floor.
"YANG!" I scream, running to my sister's side.
I prop her head up on my knees, and she spits some blood on the floor, "I'm fine…"
"You shouldn't interfere." A cold, hollow voice echos from behind me.
I turn to find myself face to face with my girlfriend, her eyes blood red.
"Sierra…"
"She asked for this, I'm simply doing as she requested."
"If you keep this up, she'll die."
"Then she shouldn't have attempted to take you away from me. I won't let anyone take you, not while my heart's still beating."
"And I feel the same way," I say, standing and cupping her cheek with my hand, "which is why I can't let your anger take you. You're better than this, I know you are." I finish, placing a kiss on her cheek.
Her ascended aura drops and her eyes turn back to grey, "I shouldn't have taken it this far." She sighs.
"You can make it right. You and Yang need to…" I say, turning to my sister.
I freeze as I see my sister holding Sierra's swords over top of each other, and watch as she brings the blades down over her knee. The two blades shatter as my sister's aura shields her leg. Before I could blink, there was a burst of wind and Yang impacted the wall.
"Now you've done it Xiao Long." Sierra growls, her eyes back to red, "You took the only thing I had left from my mother, the only thing I've carried with me for all the years I spent without my parents, the only thing I used as a reminder for me to hold back!" She strides over to my sister and picks her up by the hair. I know my sister must be hurt when she doesn't say anything about her hair being touched. "The monster you wanted to kill wasn't here at the start of this, but now you got me, so how do you want this monster to take you apart?"
"Miss Grey, that's enough!" Ozpin yells.
She chuckles, "You think you can stop me old man?"
"Miss Grey…"
"Miss Grey isn't here anymore, the monster's here to play." She says, turning towards us. Her eyes are an odd color of green and her voice is a slightly different tone.
"Sierra…" I say.
"Are you stupid or are you just bad at listening? Your girlfriend isn't…"
She stops, her eyes and voice switching back to normal, "Ruby...she's back…" Sierra groans, dropping my sister and clutching her head.
"Who?"
"The one...I told you about. The one...that likes hurting...people." She grunts.
"You need to fight her." I plead.
"I'm...trying…"
One of her eyes changes this time, "You little brat! Let me kill her!" The other voice cries.
"No...I won't let you hurt anyone."
I approach her slowly, "Stay back." Sierra pleads.
"No, come here so I can see what color your blood is."
I crouch down next to her normal side, and start singing softly, "I always admit, The ways of my cowardly past
I can't help that
And still I
Always act like I'm brave
But I'm oblivious
And now it's back to haunt me
Forever
Countless skies that I've painted
Surely, This is where my heart...Finally doesn't fall apart...Won't fall apart."
I see her eye return to normal and she starts to sing with me, "Jumping high from my dreams
I'll fly
No matter what the cost
Today
I'll find
A way
To shake off all the pain
Within my dreams
I'll touch the sky
But I still realize
I won't… survive… the fight
Without you by my side
You give me light
When I have lost my way
I fall asleep
'cause I always find you
in...my...dreams
I'll always be right next to you
I'll give you everything I have."
She places her head on my shoulder and sobs, "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry."
"It's okay...It's okay..." I murmur, running a hand through her hair.
She pushes herself off my shoulder and crawls over to the shattered remains of her mother's swords, and I watch as she tries to transmute the blades back together. Only the blades wouldn't form properly, as if the metal didn't want to become a sword again. The liquid metal bouncing as the transmutation attempted to shape it. The transmutation began to fail, and I watch her jerk back from the rebound. When she finally gave up, she gathered up the pieces and put them into her cloak. Once she was done, she crawled back over to me and curled up in my lap, tears streaming down her face.
Ozpin walks over, "What do you think your punishment for letting a student into the staff dueling arena should be?"
"Now's not the time for…" I say.
"Temporary suspension from teaching." Sierra interrupts, her voice muffled by my shoulder.
"You know exactly how serious what you've done is, and you accepted the proper consequence. Therefore, I'm only going to forbid you from further use of the arena for this school year. Now, I expect you both to escort Miss Xiao Long to the infirmary, which means our discussion about your...behavior, Miss Rose, will have to wait."
"Fine by me." I respond, standing to place one of my sister's arms onto my shoulder.
Sierra does the same, and we start to carry her. Ozpin eyeing the two of us as we walk out.
"Can you blink us there?" I ask
She doesn't say anything, but nods no. I wonder what's up until I look at the shoulder she is using to hold up my sister. Her shirt is soaked through with blood, and it looked like the bone was out of the socket.
"Sierra! Stop!, you're going to push it further out of the socket."
"I'm fine." She grunts, clearly in severe pain.
I stop, not letting her go any farther, "I can carry Yang by myself, now let go."
"No."
"Why? You're hurt."
"I hurt her, now I have to fix it." She says, clearly on the brink of tears, leaving me unsure if it was from the pain or everything that had happened.
"You couldn't control yourself. It wasn't your…"
"It was my fault!" She yells, her aura flaring. "I got angry Ruby. Truly angry. That's something I promised to never let happen again, and it was that mistake that let her out. She would have killed Yang if you and Oz hadn't been there to stop her. Imagine what would happen if she got control while I was ascended? She could wipe Beacon off the map without even trying. I have to keep control no matter how strong the feeling. I can remember what she was thinking Ruby. She was trying to decide how she should kill you and Yang. I couldn't live with myself if something were to happen to you, and I definitely couldn't live with myself if it was me."
"I know, but you can control it. You're too stubborn for someone to control you. That doesn't matter right now, let me carry her."
"Fine, I'll let you carry her." She says, letting go of the arm she was holding. She starts to walk off, only she wasn't walking towards the infirmary…
"Where do you think you're going?" I scold.
"Back to the dorms…" She says, questioningly.
"Not to the infirmary?"
"I'll be fine. It's just a dislocated shoulder…"
"Pop it back in."
"What?"
"If it isn't swollen to the point where you would need to see a doctor, then all you should have to do is pop it back in."
I watch her grit her teeth as she starts to press the shoulder back in, but she couldn't slip it back in with how swollen it had gotten.
"You're coming to the infirmary."
"No." She pouts.
"You don't want to have two metal arms do you?"
She mumbles something under her breath, "What was that?" I ask.
"You're right…" She grumbles.
"I couldn't hear you, you're going to have to speak up."
"You're right okay? That better?"
"Much. Now come on."
Sierra P.O.V
"Why does the infirmary have to be across the school from the staff arena?" I groan, nursing my swollen shoulder.
"They didn't expect staff to engage in fights to the death, or get injured when they do." Ruby smirks.
"She started it!" I retort.
"I know, if you had started it, I'd beat you up myself."
Yang started to stir, and winced when she tried to move, "How do you feel?" Ruby asks.
"Like I got hit by a truck."
"Anything broken?"
"I don't think so, but I'm going to be sore for weeks. You can put me down."
Ruby obliges only for Yang to shift on her feet and fall back onto Ruby's shoulder, "I thought you said I could put you down!" Ruby exclaims.
"She's trying to get out of going to the infirmary too." I quip.
"Hey! That's not what I was…"
"I don't care what you were trying to do Yang, you're going to the infirmary. Be glad it wasn't worse. You might not be alive if Sierra actually went all out. I'm thankful I managed to snap her out of it. How much do you remember?"
"The last thing I remember was Sierra's eyes being green and her asking how I wanted to be taken apart." She says, shivering slightly near the end.
"That wasn't Sierra. I know my girlfriend and she wouldn't say something like that. Whoever or whatever that was, wasn't Sierra."
"She took me over, Yang I'm so sorry." I plead for forgiveness.
"She?" Yang asks.
"She's some sort of different personality, not a different person per se, but a different version of me. I guess the easiest way to explain it is like if you suddenly started thinking like Ruby or Weiss. You're not a different person, just a drastically different thought process."
"Does "she" have a name?"
"Why would I name a personality? Seems kind of irrelevant since I never want to see her if I can avoid it."
"How often does she show up? If this is a common occurrence then my fight was justified."
"She hasn't shown up since I left the Fang. I make sure to keep her under wraps, but…you broke my mom's swords." I say, tears flowing again. "They were the only thing I had left, I don't even have a picture of her now."
Yang goes to say something, but Ruby interrupts her, "You will make this up to her."
"She had me choking on my own blood!"
"Wounds will heal, what you did can't be fixed."
"You could remake the swords…"
"It's not the swords that are important Yang, it's the principle. It would be the same as someone ripping up my cloak. Mom gave it to me, and I made it my mission to protect it as long as I live to pass it along to my children. Was it the same for you?" Ruby asks me.
"She always kept them pristine, and I promised myself to do the same. I kept them through my kidnapping, my time with the Fang, even when I was living homeless in Mistral..."
"What?!" They both exclaim.
I sigh, "When I left the Fang, we were at a memorial rally for the Mistralian Faunus Massacre. I left and didn't know who I could trust, so I did odd jobs to pay for food, but I never had enough for an apartment. I saved up a bit, got an airship ticket to Vale, and rang Ozpin's doorbell. I remember that night so well. It was raining and I was completely soaked, but that didn't stop Ozpin from giving me the biggest hug. I had him re-establish my bank account and I rented myself an apartment in Vale. I got jobs hunting Grimm outside the walls, and...caught up on everything I'd missing while kidnapped. Shortly thereafter, I had enough money saved to travel around without having to worry about getting stuck somewhere. I traveled the world, seeing the sights and using my skill to help people in need. About a year and a half later, I got a letter from Ozpin asking me to come to Beacon. Then I met you guys and Blake, and talked to Weiss for the first time in ten years. Now you're up to date on the shitty story that is my life up until this point."
"It could be worse…" Yang says.
"How?"
"There were plenty of times where you could have died, but you didn't. What's the saying?, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." The saying is definitely true given you're one of the strongest people on Remnant, and I can say that from first hand experience."
"I guess you're right. I don't think I thought about it like that before. Thanks Yang."
"It's the least I can do for you not killing me."
Nurse Sonja spots us from down the hall as we we're hobbling towards the medical wing, and rushes down with a wheelchair for Yang.
"Thank you…" Yang sighs before passing out in the chair.
She smacks me over the head, "You need to stay out of trouble. This is the third time you've been to the infirmary this year, and I will not tolerate a teacher being so reckless without a word to the headmaster." She scolds as we walk down the medical wing's main hall.
"I know, I know, I'll try and be more careful from now on."
She turns to Ruby, "You need to keep her out of trouble since it seems to find her no matter where she is."
"I'll try, but no promises." Ruby says, shrugging her shoulders.
She sighs, "Let me escort Miss Xiao Long for treatment, and then we'll see about setting your shoulder."
"It will be fine. I need something to get the swelling to go down, then I'll pop it back in myself."
"You realize how much that will hurt right?" She asks.
"I've been through worse, trust me."
"Since you're not in too much pain from your shoulder, you can stay in the waiting area here." She says, motioning to several sets of chairs in an outcropping of the hallway. "I'll get one of the other nurses to bring some anti-inflammatory salve, while I get Miss Xiao Long checked out."
She walks off and Ruby turns to me, "Are you sure you don't want one of the doctors to set your shoulder?"
"I can handle it." I say as she gives me a stern look, "I haven't gone that soft, have I?"
"I guess we'll see once they bring the salve."
A nurse peaks around the corner, "Is there a Miss Grey?"
"That's me." I say, waving her over.
She walks over, "I'm going to need you to remove your shirt…"
I get nervous, none of the nurses knew about my wings. She would definitely see them if I took off my shirt…
I look at Ruby and she gets the message, "She has some scarring on her back she doesn't like people to see." Ruby explains.
"I'm a professional, but if she's insistent on not letting people see them then, you'll have to do it."
"Ok, thank you." Ruby says, politely taking the salve from her hand.
I slip my shirt off my shoulder, and Ruby cringes, "Is it bad?"
"I can see bone…" She says, clearly trying not to gag.
"Put some salve on it so I can pop it back in. I'll get them to bandage it."
She rubs a generous amount of the paste around the wound, "It says to wait fifteen minutes for full effect."
We sit there in silence for a minute or two before she asks, "What weapon are you going to use now?"
I turn to her, "I might try reforging my mom's swords by hand, but for the immediate I might just go hand to hand."
"I'm sorry I let Yang break your swords."
"It's not your fault, if we hadn't fought in the first place, it would have never happened. I should have accepted responsibility for my actions..."
"You did! You told me you had… hurt people before we started dating, and I accepted that and was willing to deal with the problems that came with it. It's not my sister's job to tell me who I can and can't date."
"She's just trying to protect you. I can't say I disagree with her…"
"What…"
"I'm dangerous Ruby, not a thing in the world can change that. If...she gets loose…"
"I will deal with her, just like I deal with Grimm."
"You can't fight her! I couldn't stand it if she hurt you! Yang's right, you shouldn't be with me."
"That's not going to happen! I promised to be with you forever, remember? Your problems don't change that, nothing will ever change that. You understand?!" She yells, grabbing my hand.
"Yes...I forgot how stubborn you are."
"Now, pop it back in."
I grabbed my shoulder with my automail, and jerked my back as hard as I could without letting go.
POP!, "Fuck!"
"That's gross…" Ruby says, holding her hand over her mouth.
"Doesn't matter, it's fixed." I say, the pain now just a dull burn.
"Except for the hole."
"My aura will get to that...eventually."
"You should get the doctors to bandage that..." She starts
"I'll heal…" I interrupt.
"for me." She finishes.
"Ugh! Fine." I groan, "but you have to go get Miss Sonya."
She walks off and I sigh as my shoulder throbs, "You there James?"
"I am, and I can't say I'm pleased with you."
"I know, but…"
"As in, no Ascension for a while, not pleased with you."
"What? What happens if I actually need it?"
"Then I'll do it, but no more messing around. Especially with what's her face hanging around."
"I guess I should give her a name huh?"
"It would be useful for conversation."
"I'll call her Medusa, something I hate that is really ugly."
I think I hear him chuckle a little bit, "Medusa it is then."
I hear footsteps and Ruby turns the corner with Miss Sonya in tow.
"Would you like to wrap it yourself too?" Miss Sonya asks sarcastically.
"Yes if it isn't too much trouble."
"The nerve…" She huffs, putting the bandages in my hands.
"Thank you."
She walks off again and Ruby takes the bandages from me, "Hold still." She says, wrapping the cloth under my arm.
"Is Yang ok?"
"No broken bones, a minor concussion, and some bruises. Overall, she came out relatively unscathed. I'm going to get Blake in a couple minutes."
"She doesn't know what happened?"
"No, as far as I know, she doesn't know what happened."
"Send her a message then!"
"It's no use worrying her. Yang will be cleared to leave in a couple minutes. I've been instructed by Nurse Sonya to see you both get large amounts of bedrest so your auras recover properly. High expenditure can cause issues, so she wants you two to get as much rest as possible."
"I'll keep that in mind." I say as my scroll buzzes.
"Who is it?"
"It's from Weiss…" I say, "No…"
"What?"
"The tests finished and Weiss' cure was complete…"
"That's a good thing right?"
"It would be...if someone hadn't ransacked the lab and taken the cure."
A/N: Cliffhanger! Like the season finale! But real talk. Several of you guys PM'd me asking about the chapter, if I was okay, etc. I thank everyone who messaged me, you guys are awesome. The reason I haven't posted in two months is a personal thing… to be specific, my grandfather passed away at 3 o'clock this Wednesday. The absence has been because of multiple trips back and forth over the last two months to see him. To add on to that, I write when I'm happy, and it was kind of hard to be happy when I knew my grandfather was in pain. There will most likely not be a chapter next week and, potentially, the week following. I don't like making you guys wait, but he left behind his wife of 55 years that I want to make sure is being taken care of. Tell me what you guys think, follow, favorite, and review. The Marksman, continuing to move forward, Out.