Chapter 25:
It was a heavy atmosphere that had settled over the Headmaster's office at Beacon Academy. Silent and oppressive, it seemed to make the air thick to the point of choking. It was a sensation that filled one with dark emotions with every breath. Professor Ozpin, the Headmaster of Beacon Academy, never felt comfortable in this kind of atmosphere…which saddened him as he had experienced it so often. It was not the first time he'd received news of a promising life cut unfairly short.
He remained in his seat, keeping his words to himself, his eyes tracing the figures of the seven students assembled before him. Perhaps I misjudged their readiness, he thought sadly, the absence of the eighth person who should have been there weighing heavily on everyone.
It had been difficult to wrangle the full story out of them. Only a few had been able to give a truly coherent account. Nora Valkyrie couldn't get out more than a few words before breaking down, when she didn't do so almost spontaneously. Lie Ren, who was probably the most composed of the group, had to pause his recounting frequently to console her. Not even Blake Belladonna, with all her normally stoic calm, could keep sniffles and muffled sobs at bay.
Pyrrha Nikos seemed shocked by what had happened, alternately dazed and coherent, as though she couldn't quite believe that the experience she had been through was real. She had tried to recount the portion of the story that she and Weiss Schnee were privy too, but spoke haltingly, hesitantly, unable to fully order her thoughts. Beside her, her partner, Jaune Arc, was on the verge of sobbing himself, repeatedly rubbing his eyes.
Weiss Schnee, by contrast, looked angry. It was a quiet, simmering sort of anger, the kind that was typically hard to spot. But Ozpin could see it in the tense lines of her body, the clenching of her jaws, the white knuckles of her fisted hands. There was the faintest tremor that ran through her body at every mention of the lost. Ozpin wondered who she was upset with; herself, for being unable to protect her partner, or her partner for being unable to protect herself.
Then his eyes drifted to the final member of the group. Since coming to the office, Yang Xiao Long hadn't uttered a single word. Her eyes were glazed, staring off into the distance, almost as though she was in a world of her own. Ozpin felt his heart shudder at the absolutely lost look on her face. It was clear that Yang hadn't fully comprehended what had happened, that her beloved younger sister, Ruby Rose, was no longer of this world.
Finally getting the most details he could about the occurrence, Ozpin bowed his head and looked down at the desk for a moment. Looking back up, he adjusted his spectacles. "I see…" he said. "There is very little I can say to assuage your grief. It pains me to learn that Ms. Rose is lost to us. However, I should remind you that the school's counselors are available at all hours. Feel free to avail yourselves of them if you wish to have someone to talk to." He fixed his eyes on the sole complete team in the room. "Team Juniper, you are dismissed for the time being. You are free to go."
"Y-yes, Sir," said Jaune, trying to keep from blubbering inelegantly as he spoke. The four of them began to file towards the elevator. As the doors closed behind them, Ozpin focused his attention on the remaining three people in the room.
"I realize that this loss has hit you all quite hard," he said. "You three shall be excused from the end-of-semester exams, should you feel unable to participate. You can re-take the exams at a later time. I also release you from your student obligations for the next two weeks, longer if necessary. You are free to attend classes or not, as you see fit." From his experience, Ozpin knew that different people dealt with grief differently. Some needed quiet time to spend with their own thoughts and grieve properly. Others needed something to keep themselves occupied so that they didn't lose themselves completely. He always felt it best to let the grieving themselves decide what they needed to do.
"Thank you, Professor," said Weiss, her tone strained, her neck muscles tightening slightly.
"What we have to talk about next isn't easy," said Ozpin. "It is unlikely that there will be any transfers in immediate future. In all likelihood, you will remain a team of three from now on until graduation. That will make some things more difficult for you, but introducing the dynamic of a new person that you did not go through the initiation with would probably be more difficult for you."
"That's right," said Blake softly. "Ruby isn't someone you could just…replace."
"Very true," agreed Ozpin. "I understand that this could make things more difficult for you, come the Vytal Festival. If you wish to withdraw from the tournament, no one would fault you."
"We won't," said Weiss firmly, her expression hardening.
"I appreciate your zeal," said Ozpin. "But I hope that the decision to continue to participate is one that you will carefully consider before making it final."
Weiss' lips parted slightly, probably on the verge of claiming that they didn't need to take their time to decide, before thinking better of it and stopping herself. Instead, she decided to ask something else. "Professor, what about our team name?"
"Your name?" asked Ozpin, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, without Ruby…we can't really be Team Ruby anymore, can we?" asked Weiss. "Shouldn't we be getting a new team name?"
"No."
The word caused everyone to look at Yang in surprise. It was the first thing she'd said since they'd entered the office.
"What?" asked Weiss sharply, her cheeks coloring, the muscles in her neck tensing again.
"We're not changing the name," said Yang. "With or without her, we're still Team Ruby. I'm not going to let that change."
"Yang, be serious about this," said Weiss, a hint of scoff entering her voice. "This isn't about Ruby. It's about where we go from hereon out. We need a proper designation."
"I…" said Blake, speaking up hesitantly, "…I don't want to change our team name either, Weiss."
Clearly unhappy about being outvoted by her teammates, Weiss glared, but fell silent, obviously feeling that further protest on her part would only make things worse. Ozpin decided to help things along a little.
"Truth be told, keeping your name as Team Ruby is the simplest course," he said. "It's somewhat difficult to come up with names to match your initials." He fixed his gaze on Weiss with a small, wry smile. "However, upon consideration, I suppose the designation of Team Wallaby is available." In truth, had he needed to come up with a new team name, he would have gone with "Team Whiteberry." But it was clear that Yang and Blake were not amenable to changing their team's name and decided to pick one that would help Weiss relinquish the idea for the time being.
"Ruby is fine," said Weiss, clearly having to force herself to relax. Ozpin nodded, having known that Weiss would probably not want her team named after the odd, admittedly adorable, animal.
"Very well then. Ms. Schnee, you are officially the new leader of Team Ruby. I hope you will do your previous leader proud."
Weiss took a deep breath, then straightened up. "I promise not to disappoint you, Professor," she said firmly. "I will ensure that Team Ruby lives up to the highest standards of this Academy."
"All that I can ask is that you do the best you can," said Ozpin softly, not wanting Weiss to take too much responsibility onto herself. "Ms. Schnee, Ms. Belladonna, you two are dismissed. I need to speak with Ms. Xiao Long alone for a moment."
Weiss and Blake looked at Yang in confusion, before heading to the elevator. As it closed, Yang focused her attention on Ozpin, also apparently confused by his request.
"Ms. Xiao Long, I understand that this has hit you especially hard," he said. "There is no way that I could ever hope to identify with your grief, and I doubt anything I could say could alleviate it." He sighed, preparing to ask the question that he dreaded. "However…I wish to know how you feel…Do you believe that I was wrong to bring Ruby here, now?"
Yang blinked, opening her mouth, then stopped herself. What she had been about to say, Ozpin wasn't sure. Then she narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, mulling over his question. Finally, she met his steady gaze. "No," she said firmly. "Ruby deserved to be here. I'm not blind and deaf. I know what some of the other students think. But Ruby had every right to be in this Academy. I…I was glad when I learned that you'd invited her." She smiled softly to herself. "This…this was everything Ruby ever wanted to be."
"I see," said Ozpin, lowering his gaze. "Thank you for reassuring me. I apologize for the rather selfish nature of that question."
"It's…it's okay," said Yang softly.
"There is one other thing I wished to ask you," said Ozpin.
"Go ahead," said Yang.
"Given what has just happened, it is only natural that your family will need to be notified," said Ozpin. "I can ensure that Qrow Branwen receives word of what has passed. However…do you wish for me to tell your father…or would you rather give him the news yourself?"
Yang's skin went white, and her eyes wide. For an instant, she was petrified, a look of terror flashing across her face. Ozpin didn't blame her. Qrow had filled him in on Taiyang Xiao Long's depression after the loss of Summer Rose. Having lost not only one love, but two, how would he react to the news that his youngest daughter had passed as well?
"I…I'll tell him," said Yang, after regathering her composure. "He should hear it from me."
"I see," said Ozpin. "You may avail yourself of any of the terminals in the CCT Center below, or I can arrange transportation for you to Patch in order to tell him in person."
"I'll go to Patch," said Yang. "Dad's…I'm worried about what he'll do. I want to be there…to make sure he doesn't…do anything."
"Understandable," said Ozpin, nodding. "Please inform me when you wish to depart. I shall have a bullhead ready to fly you there directly."
"Thank you, Professor. It may be a day or two." Yang blinked, fighting back more tears. "I need time…time to pull myself together. I have to keep it together for Dad. He and Uncle Qrow are all I have now."
"Of course," said Ozpin, nodding. "Then you are dismissed, Ms. Xiao Long."
"Yes, Professor," said Yang, heading towards the elevator as well.
After taking the elevator down, Weiss and Blake had parted ways at the base of Beacon Tower. Blake had probably headed off the library, seeking solitude and quiet to deal with her feelings at the loss of their leader. Weiss chose to return to the dorm, fighting to keep her composure every step of the way. Only when the door was closed and locked behind her, did Weiss finally allow herself to relax her iron control, letting out a shuddering breath as she sagged down onto her bed and allowed her hands to unclench. She sighed out, struggling with equal parts elation and frustration.
It took all of Weiss' self control to keep her anger and impatience in check. It wasn't easy. After everything, all the humiliation she'd endured, all the careful arrangements she'd made, all the time she'd bided, she was finally rid of the eyesore, the child, the brat...that Ozpin, somehow, in the far recesses of his incomprehensible mind, had deemed suitable to lead their team.
She, Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Family name and their Dust empire, had been forced to play second fiddle to a child two years younger than her. She had been schooled by the finest tutors, trained in the fighting arts by the best instructors, incorporated the most advanced technology on Remnant into the design of her weapon. She'd invested her entire heart and soul into her studies, grooming herself to lead, in preparation for the day that she took the reins of her family's company and finally erased the stain her father had left on their legacy.
Her plans had been clear and precise, just like her technique, with no margin for error. Of the four Huntsmen Academies, Beacon was considered the best by a generous margin. Furthermore, attending Beacon and going to Vale allowed her to distance herself from her father, and cultivate her own connections, free of his influence. She would excel at Beacon, leading one of their teams to success, and win acclaim as a Huntress, before returning in triumph to her father and company with the clout necessary to make real change.
Yet all of those plans had been dashed to pieces within just minutes of arrival, when that damn brat had tripped over her luggage and then, worse, triggered an explosion with some of Weiss' own Dust. From the very moment she'd laid eyes on Ruby Rose, Weiss had known that the child didn't belong. Her impressions only got worse every time their paths crossed, all the way up into the initiation where, to Weiss' utter gall, Ruby had been the first person Weiss met eyes with. Her only other option was that blonde lunkhead, Arc, who'd ended up with Pyrrha, so Weiss had swallowed her frustration and tried to make due.
Ruby had even proven useful, able to handle herself and her weapon well enough that Weiss thought she might not have been a total beginner. They were partners, there was no escaping that. Weiss figured that Ruby might make a useful addition to her team...a minion of sorts. Then, to her appalled shock, Ozpin had named Ruby, not her, to the position of team leader.
Weiss couldn't have imagined a worse choice. Sure, Blake was quiet, and not very assertive. Yang was wild and far too impulsive. But either of them was a better choice than the girl two years too young to be in Beacon to begin with. And that was ignoring the fact that Ozpin had overlooked the obvious choice for leadership embodied in Weiss herself. It was an insult, a slap in the face. Weiss had worked, studied, and trained; and Ozpin just turned and handed leadership over to that…that…brat.
For the next couple of months, Weiss had been tortured by the constant sight of Ruby struggling to keep up in an institution where she clearly didn't belong. She saw Ruby's academic struggles, and how hard she had to work to keep up, and was further convinced that Ruby had no place at Beacon. It didn't help that, instead of applying herself completely to her studies, Ruby instead tried to drag Weiss off on various 'bonding activities,' mostly likely childish endeavors that were a waste of time and undermined her own studies. It was as though, instead of trying to keep up with Weiss' level of achievement, Ruby wanted to make herself look better by dragging Weiss down to her level.
But worst of all were the whispers, the rumors, the scornful looks Weiss and her team received. Yang claimed that Ruby was having it hard, with people talking behind her back, but Weiss knew that had to be a lie. She was the one truly being maligned. People were mocking her just outside her earshot; the great Schnee heiress, subservient to the child two years younger than her. People ate that sort of thing right up, then spat it back out to be eaten by someone else. The accolades she'd anticipated when she'd first applied to Beacon had been replaced by humiliation and mockery.
All of this left Weiss with one option, one hope of being able to turn this foolishness around. She was destined for greater things in life, greater than even being a Huntress. She was destined to inherit the most powerful company in all of Remnant, she was destined to reform it, to erase the things her father had done to malign their family name. She couldn't afford to languish in her current position. She had to rectify Ozpin's mistake and prove herself to the world. She realized there was one thing that had to be done.
Ruby Rose had to go.
Ironically, Weiss had found herself reflecting on Professor Port's observations about her, that she was a girl who was used to getting everything she wanted. He was right. After all…Weiss was a Schnee…and a Schnee always gets what she wants. Weiss wanted-No!-needed the power and prestige afforded to her by being the leader of a successful team. So Ruby Rose needed to get out of her way…or be removed from her way.
It had taken a lot of effort to arrange things, as well as find someone to help her. As much as Weiss believed Ruby was no match for her in a serious, life or death, battle, she wanted to be absolutely certain. The other members of her team were out. Yang was Ruby's older sister, and doted on her incessantly. She apparently bought completely into the ridiculous idea that Ruby deserved to be at Beacon, much less lead their team. Blake had seemed plausible, until they had learned the truth about her. Weiss did not want to trust such a sensitive matter to a faunus, and a former member of the White Fang. Besides, Ruby, in her foolish naiveté, had expressed a strong belief in Blake's innocence, despite learning about her past, something that appeared to have earned Blake's acceptance.
Thus, Weiss had to consider approaching people on other teams. Team CRDL could have been her first choice, given how much they had secretly tormented Ruby, whenever Yang wasn't around. However, their focus had shifted to Jaune for some reason, then, after Jaune saved Cardin in Forever Fall, they had amended their behavior completely. Even if they hadn't, Weiss definitely had second thoughts, finding them lacking, to a man, in the brainpower department.
Her other option was Team JNPR. Of all of them, there was only one member of that team she felt she could sway to her side. Jaune was out. He clearly seemed to enjoy Ruby's company for some reason, never objecting whenever she dragged him off to watch movies or play video games, when he should have been studying or training. Nora was entirely too much like Ruby in disposition, if somehow even more childish, and apparently considered "discretion" a dirty word. Ren had been a possibility, but Weiss couldn't shake the sense that he too had accepted Ruby, for some reason.
That left Pyrrha Nikos, the most brilliant fighter in their year, someone Weiss considered to be her natural ally. After all, both she and Pyrrha had been earmarked for greatness early on. Both of them had displaced from the position they should have received by far more inept, and less deserving, individuals. Granted, she didn't seem to mind much, having become quite enamored of her team's leader…for some reason. Still, Weiss thought it wouldn't be hard to sway her over.
And it hadn't, in the end. Every time Ruby dragged Jaune off for some inane activity, Weiss had noticed the spark of frustration in Pyrrha's eyes. She began to approach Pyrrha and ask her questions. Wasn't it annoying that Ruby would always drag Jaune off when he could be studying or training some more? Didn't she resent the fact that Ruby's childishness was denying her leader the chance to improve? Wouldn't it be better if Ruby were gone? It had taken time. Weiss couldn't win Pyrrha over right away. But every time she saw Pyrrha's frustration with something Ruby did, usually involving Jaune, Weiss didn't miss a chance to stoke that feeling, to nurture it, maturing it into resentment…and malice.
When Weiss was sure Pyrrha was on her side, she proposed the plan. Even with all the work Weiss had put into building up her resentment, Pyrrha had still been unsure about disposing of Ruby. However, her doubts were gradually eased when Weiss put forth her plan. She'd thought of everything, the mission, the Grimm, how they could be used to draw Ruby out, isolate her, then eliminate her, with no one being the wiser.
And it had gone off almost perfectly. Weiss and Pyrrha had managed to arrange the mission. The setting was perfect, even better than they had hoped for, with a cliff to put at Ruby's back to keep her from escaping. The Grimm had responded as they had hoped. But, even then, Ruby proved to be the annoying dunce that she always was, unable to even die properly. It irked Weiss just how much effort she and Pyrrha had had to put into putting Ruby down. She still remembered that moment where Ruby had, unfathomably, been able to gain the upper hand, and had come within inches of beating her. Thank God for Pyrrha's Semblance.
And now Ruby was gone, the team was hers. Weiss would take over and lead her team past this "tragedy," mold them into the finest team Beacon had seen. Then everything would be the way it should have been, better even.
Still, she had to tread carefully. In a perfect world, Blake and Yang would swallow their sorrow, and see what had to be done and commit themselves. But this wasn't a perfect world. The two other girls, Yang in particular, were shaken by the loss of Ruby. Weiss would rather they just got over it. But she understood. They were sentimental. They wouldn't get over Ruby in a night, or even a week, or possibly a month. They'd have to eventually, but Weiss couldn't rush them. She couldn't afford to let her satisfaction with what she'd accomplished show through. She would have to pretend to mourn Ruby's death as well, pretend to have sympathy for Blake and Yang, pretend as though things weren't better with that infantile dunce holding them back.
I have to be patient, she thought. Seizing victory is all about finding the right time to strike. I have to wait a little while longer. Then it will be as though Ruby Rose never existed.
The mood in the room of Team JNPR was a somber one to be sure. With their shared battle during the initiation, they all considered Team RWBY to be their sister team, with whom they spent most of their free time. Of all Team RWBY, they had become especially close to Ruby Rose, particularly Jaune Arc.
Jaune's introduction to Ruby hadn't been the smoothest, his first impression being sick over her sister's shoes. But it had gotten better when he'd helped Ruby after her first meeting with Weiss. From there, they'd become fast friends, even after the initiation had landed them on different teams. Ruby was always eager to do something with him, whether it was watching movies, playing video games, or even talking about their favorite subjects. In a way, it had helped Jaune cope with the homesickness, and the absence of his seven sisters from his life.
Both Ren and Nora had been particularly fond of Ruby as well. Nora was happy to rope Ruby into any pranks or other madness she was planning, while Ren occasionally tutored Ruby to help her keep up with Beacon's academic workload, admiring her perseverance. Pyrrha, on the other hand, didn't have any particular connection with Ruby, but did treat her with the same kind friendliness she used when interacting with nearly everyone else (sans CRDL).
So Ruby's death had been a blow to them. Nora was still weeping silently in Ren's arms as he tried his best calm her. Jaune was seated on his bed, leaning forward and resting his face silently in his hands. It's so hard to really believe she's gone, he thought. Ruby was just so full of life that it was hard to imagine those shining, silver eyes as blank and lifeless, to imagine her bloody and broken at the fangs and claws of the Grimm. Perhaps it was better that they hadn't seen her body.
"Jaune?" asked Pyrrha, sitting down behind him and resting a hand on his shoulder. "Jaune, talk to me. Are you all right?"
"I can't really be all right," said Jaune softly, swallowing his frustration. It wasn't Pyrrha's fault. "It's just hard to accept."
"I know," said Pyrrha. She hesitated slightly. "It's…hard…for me too. I was there, and there wasn't a thing I could do. I've never felt so…powerless." She raised her other hand to Jaune's chest. "But…we need to keep moving forward. We need to put our sorrow behind us, and use it to work towards making things better. I know Ruby wouldn't want us to drown in our sadness over her."
Jaune shuddered. Despite what Pyrrha said, it wasn't so easy to simply put this tragedy behind him. But she was right, he did have to move forward. "I'll…try," he said. "Thanks, Pyrrha."
"It's only natural," said Pyrrha, smiling fondly at him. "We should reach out to the ones who are suffering and give them some aid. It's the kind of thing that Ruby would have liked."
"Yeah," said Jaune, his eyes widening. "You're right. Thanks again Pyrrha." He sniffed and wiped his eyes, getting to his feet.
"Jaune…?" Pyrrha's eyes betrayed confusion, not knowing what to make of his reaction. "What are you doing?"
"I'm doing what you said we should do," said Jaune, smiling down at Pyrrha. He looked down at his hands. "I…It hurt so much to lose Ruby. But…what I…what we're feeling…can't compare to what Yang's going through. She just lost her sister. I can't even begin to imagine what that's like for her. She and Ruby were so close. I'm going to go see if she's okay, if there's anything I can do to help her." He beamed at Pyrrha, who looked more confused than ever. "I'll see you guys in a little bit."
Jaune left the room, the door swinging shut behind him. Pyrrha stared at it, her eyes wide, her expression uncomprehending. I don't understand. It wasn't supposed to be like this.
Yang wasn't sure what to do with herself. She'd told Ozpin she needed time to pull herself together. But she wasn't exactly sure how to do even that. How could she ever just "move on" after losing the most important person in her life? She couldn't go pretending that the days didn't seem a little bit darker without her sister's radiant presence in it. Back when they'd lost their mother, Summer Rose, Yang had pulled herself together. But the impetus for that had been Ruby. Their father was in no condition to care for Ruby, so Yang had taken on the responsibility.
Now Ruby was gone, and everything seemed so…so…wrong. That was the only way she could describe it. Yang couldn't believe the empty gulf that existed in her life, without her precious younger sister to fill it. She wasn't like Blake, able to seek solace in solitude and books. She wasn't like Weiss either, able to lose herself in endless studies. She wasn't sure what she could do to help her process her grief.
Her initial idea was to go out on the town, and hit up a bar or three…or a dozen. Perhaps she'd get into a brawl, and be able to pound out her sorrows on some poor schmuck's face. That was the ideal way for Yang Xiao Long to vent her grief. But she couldn't do that either. It wasn't because she wasn't allowed to leave. Ozpin had given her free rein after all. But she was worried that, if she went out, caused trouble, and got into trouble, it would end up getting back to her dad, which would cause him to find out why…and that was not how she wanted him to find out about Ruby's death.
That was how she found herself now, sitting on a bench near the edge of the cliff overlooking the Emerald Forest. Right now, it was the only thing she could think of, the only thing she could do to begin the process of getting herself together enough to face her father with the truth of what happened.
"Hey…" The gentle, familiar voice prompted Yang to look up, lifting her face out of her hands. She was surprised to see the familiar figure of Jaune Arc standing there, smiling sadly down at her.
"H-hey," Yang said back, sniffing and wiping her eyes. "What do you want?"
Jaune sat down on the bench next to her. "I guess…I wanted to see how you were doing. Pyrrha gave me a bit of a pep-talk to help me out. But the thing it made me realize is that what I was feeling couldn't compare to what you are. I just wanted to see if there was anything I could do to…you know…help."
"Help?" said Yang, a sob rising unbidden to her throat. "There's nothing to help. Ruby's gone. We can't bring her back."
"I know," said Jaune. "I can't help her. No one can. But I can help you."
"How?"
Jaune's smile widened slightly. "However you need," he said. "Someone to talk to, a shoulder to lean on…Heck! I can even be a punching bag, if you need someone or something to pound on. Ruby told me that's how you usually deal with things when you're upset."
Yang sniffed and found herself smiling. Put like that, it sounded like an excellent way to work out her frustrations. "You'd do that for me?" she asked. "The punching bag thing, I mean."
"Yeah," said Jaune, giving her a slightly shaky grin. "I can't promise that I'll give you much of a fight. But if there's one thing I can do well, it's take a beating."
That made Yang giggle. "Well then, let's see if you can live up to your promises."
It only took them a few minutes to get set up. They reserved a sparring ring, got suited up, and equipped themselves for battle. Then Jaune was facing Yang in the ring, his sword and shield out and ready, while Yang armed her gauntlets.
"I hope you're ready for a pounding," said Yang, smacking her gauntlets together.
"Yep," said Jaune a bit weakly, starting to feel he was out of his depth. He'd known that Yang would have a lot of anger, sorrow, and frustration to work out, but, now that he was facing her, he suddenly found himself wondering if he was strong enough to handle taking that onto himself in the form of her fists.
"Then here I come!" shouted Yang, charging forward without further preamble.
She surged at him, a streak of gold flying across the ring. Jaune barely managed to raise his shield in time before her first punch slammed home, the sound of her gauntleted fist ringing against his shield, echoing throughout the large room. Jaune's arm screamed from the exertion of holding back the blow, even as his feet slid back.
But that was only the opening move, and Yang never did anything by half-measures. She unleashed a flurry of swift punches, unloading onto Jaune's shield like it had personally insulted her or, worse, clipped her hair. The best Jaune could manage was to hunker down behind it and brace himself to keep from being pushed right out of the ring. Had she been fighting more rationally, Yang could have easily bypassed his defense with her excellent footwork, moving around the area of coverage afforded by his shield to reach his undefended body. However, right now, Yang was anything but rational.
She was surprised by how right Jaune had been. Even if it was the hard, unyielding surface of his shield, it was just so gratifying to be able to hit something, anything. So Yang unloaded on Jaune's shield with all her might, putting her all into each and every blow, punctuating it with a blast from Ember Celica. She didn't even realize it, but her eyes had already shifted to red, her hair beginning to glow.
After God knows how many punches, Yang's momentum began to play out. Even with all the raw passion she had to put into her assault, her body just couldn't keep up. As the pace of her blows began to slow down, Jaune suddenly braced his feet and pushed back against her as Yang moved to hit his shield again. The sudden opposition actually caused Yang to fall back slightly, giving Jaune an opening to move forward, leading with a slash of his sword.
Yang reacted automatically, deflecting his slash with a raised gauntlet, before taking to the air. Firing the Ember Celica behind her, she used the recoil to send herself into a spin that allowed her to bring the heel of her foot down at Jaune's head. He deftly raised his shield as her boot slammed into it with a crash, though the force of impact caused his knees to buckle. He managed to force her kick back, Yang pushing off to flip back over and land on her feet. Then, to her surprise, Jaune went on the attack.
From there, Yang's combat instincts took over as she blocked or dodged his strikes and returned them in kind. She was actually impressed that Jaune was able to keep up against her, successfully managing both his weapons to keep her from getting too much of an edge. She'd known that Jaune was getting better under Pyrrha's tutelage, but it was another thing to see just how much better he was now.
Once again, they slammed together, Yang pressing her gauntlets into Jaune's shield, bracing her body against her arms, as Jaune did the same from the other side. The two of them staring at each other. Jaune met Yang's eyes and smiled at her with a surprising degree of confidence.
Yang's heart shuddered, and her own smile vanished. For a second there, it wasn't Jaune standing there, but Ruby. His smile was like hers. The moment she saw it, the wound that still hadn't healed began to hurt once more. Screaming filled the air and Yang took a minute to realize it was her own. Her Aura blazed around her like flames as she raged, slamming her fist into Jaune's shield with a force incomparable to what she'd used before, her Semblance kicking into high gear.
Jaune barely managed to hold up under the onslaught for a few seconds, before a hooking strike knocked his shield arm out to the side. Then his body was wide open and Yang didn't hesitated to pounce, pounding into it with a seemingly unending sequence of punches, right and left, over and over again. Jaune reeled back, knocked to the floor, his shield and sword skidding out of his reach. But even then, Yang wasn't done. She loomed over him, then brought her fist thundering down.
Not once did Jaune cry out or ask her to stop. All he offered was grunts of pain. A few more punches after she'd downed him and Yang's momentum began to play out, her hits losing the explosive strength that had so completely overwhelmed him. Jaune's body ached all over. He was pretty sure Yang had broken his Aura. He was probably bruised and battered. But still, he reached up and wrapped his arms around her, managing to sit up against her weakened punches and pull her into a hug.
Unable to stop, Yang broke down sobbing, throwing her arms around Jaune's neck and pressing her face into his shoulder, crying, screaming, and wailing. Jaune held her tight, raising a hand to gently comb through her long locks of flowing, blonde hair. "It's okay," he said.
"No it isn't," Yang said. "Ruby's gone…Ruby's gone and she isn't coming back."
"I know," said Jaune pressing his hand against the back of her head.
"Then how can you say that?" Yang shouted into the fabric of his hoody.
"I mean…It's okay to be sad," said Jaune. "It's okay to cry. It's okay to miss her. I miss her too, but…I know you miss her more. I know you'll never stop missing her. That's why I'll be whatever you need me to be to help you get through this."
Yang sniffed and started sobbing again, her weight settling against Jaune, who stifled a groan as his battered muscles gave out. As slow as he could, he laid back, lowering them both to the floor, letting Yang lay on top of him as he continued to hold her. Time wore on. Minutes passed. How many, he couldn't say. But Jaune remained where he was, holding Yang as her cries tapered off and her body stilled. He thought she might have fallen asleep. But then she lifted her face up from his shoulder and met his eyes.
Even though her face was stained with tears, her eyes red from weeping, Jaune still found Yang beautiful as she stared at him. Now that she'd calmed down, Yang was horrified to see the state Jaune was in. He had a serious bruise on his right cheek, and his left eye was black. While his chestplate had taken some of the impact, his torso was probably still a mass of bruises as well. He didn't look as though anything was broken. She wouldn't have been able to stand it if she'd seriously injured him when he was just trying to help her. "Jaune, I-"
"It's okay," said Jaune. "I told you I'd be your punching bag if you needed to. I brought this on myself."
His response made Yang giggle and she sagged down against him, allowing him to hold her again. "Thanks," she said, finding the feeling surprisingly comfortable.
"Whatever I can do," promised Jaune. "Just tell me what you need."
"For now…I just want to stay like this," said Yang, relaxing a little. It surprised her how good he was at this. It might have had something to do with him having seven sisters, but he was surprisingly good at comforting someone in low spirits. He'd homed right in on what she needed, and provided it without hesitation. Ruby's loss still hurt something fierce. But Yang didn't feel overwhelmed by it now.
She supposed she'd been right to encourage Ruby to spend time with Jaune. She'd seen her little sister's first big crush a mile away, of course. Yang had been happy to encourage Ruby, subtly, to act on her feelings. Contrary to what some of her friends thought, Yang wasn't some overprotective helicopter sister who would waste anybody she caught looking at Ruby. Sure, if she'd thought Jaune was the sort of slimeball to take advantage of Ruby, she'd have pounded him into next week (before she'd actually pounded him into next week). But Jaune had seemed a nice boy, if a little goofy and dense, as evidenced by his completely blindness to his own partner's attraction to him.
It wasn't as though Yang had wanted to spite Pyrrha. She had just wanted Ruby to be happy. So, if Pyrrha wasn't willing to just up and tell Jaune how she felt, then Yang felt Ruby deserved a chance to be with Jaune too. Granted, Ruby was just as hesitant as Pyrrha was when it came to telling the object of her crush how she felt about him, but someone would figure something out and do something…sooner or later…or so she'd thought.
And then this had happened, and any thought of seeing Ruby go out on her first date, seeing her boyfriend get the "dad talk" from Taiyang, and so on, had disappeared into the ether. It made Yang tear up all over again when she realized that she'd miss all those little moments that would have come with watching Ruby mature into a woman like her mother. Yang's heart shuddered and her fingers clenched against Jaune's shoulders, bunching up the fabric of his hoody. Jaune didn't say a word, but reassuringly rubbed her back as fresh tears spilled out of Yang's eyes.
It took a few more minutes to calm down again. When she did, Yang lifted her head to meet Jaune's eyes once more. "Thank you so much," she said.
"Feel better?" asked Jaune.
"A lot," said Yang. "You really did help me." She looked away slightly and sniffled. "But…could you help me with one more thing?"
"Anything," Jaune promised.
Yang swallowed, feeling sick in the pit of her stomach as she thought about what she had to do. "I…I need to go back to Patch," she said. "I need to go back and tell…" She shuddered, her entire body quivering. "…tell Dad…what happened."
"R-right," said Jaune.
"C-could you…could you come with me?" asked Yang.
"I told you I'd do whatever I could to help," said Jaune, "and an Arc never goes back on his word. Just tell me when you want to leave."
Yang swallowed. "I guess…the sooner the better. I thought I was gonna take a couple of days. But…" She shuddered again. "But I can't put it off, or I'll never find the courage to go. I think we should go today."
"So…let's get cleaned up and get ready," said Jaune. "I'll meet you at the docks."
An hour later, they were waiting as the bullhead Ozpin promised them arrived at the landing pad. Jaune and Yang climbed aboard and settled in as the aircraft lifted off. Jaune was grateful that Pyrrha had unlocked his Aura. Apparently, among all its other manifest benefits, was the fact that it appeared to ease his motion sickness. While he felt a little woozy and nauseous, he wasn't having to choke back his own vomit with every bump and rattle of the airship.
Even then, what airsickness he did feel was probably due to the marginal state his Aura was currently in. Thanks to the pounding that Yang had delivered, his Aura had been almost completely drained. Even though it was slowly returning, most of it was going into healing his injuries, his bruises beginning to fade.
"Thanks for this," said Yang, smiling at him from across the bullhead's passenger compartment.
"No problem," Jaune replied, before jolting as his scroll abruptly vibrated in his pocket. Pulling it out, Jaune saw an anxious text from Pyrrha. "Uh oh."
"What's wrong?" asked Yang, prompting a sheepish grin from Jaune as he rubbed his hair nervously.
"Uh…I may have forgotten to tell Pyrrha where I was going," he said. "I didn't exactly expect to be flying off to Patch this afternoon."
Yang giggled as Jaune texted an answer back to Pyrrha. Geez, more than his aspiring girlfriend, she acts like his mom.
The thought made her wonder about Jaune's family what it was like. However, there wasn't really time right now. The flight to Patch was short, a lot shorter than taking the ferry. Yang was grateful for Ozpin's offer, not wanting to spend the hour-long ferry ride to the island fretting over how to break the news to her dad.
It was only a few minutes later that the bullhead touched down. Yang and Jaune disembarked, Yang leading him up the road to her house, the home she'd shared with her father and Ruby. As she did, she began to tremble, the realization dawning at what she was about to do, what she was about to say.
Then she felt a warm hand close around hers, strong fingers meshing with her own and squeezing reassuringly. Yang looked over and saw Jaune looking at her. He wasn't smiling, but he nodded to her all the same. Yang nodded back and swallowed one last time, letting go of Jaune's hand and heading up to the door of the house.
Knocking, Yang stood back and waited. After a few seconds, she heard the floorboards creak beneath her father's heavy tread, accompanied by the skittering of claws against the wood. Yang felt her stomach lurch again as she realized who else was just about to learn the terrible news she was about to deliver.
The door opened, and there was her father. While Yang supposedly took after her biological mother in the looks department, she also had a lot of her father in her. Taiyang smiled at his daughter. "Yang?" he asked, surprised to see her. "What's going on? You didn't tell me you were visiting." Taiyang's eyes found Jaune and narrowed in confusion. "Who is this?"
A black and white corgi bounded out and loped about Yang's feet, barking excitedly.
"Hi…I'm Jaune," said Jaune lamely, unsure of what else to say. He didn't want to disrupt Yang's efforts at this point.
"D-dad," said Yang, her body quivering as she leaned against him, tears once again forcing their way out of her eyes. "Dad…I have something to tell you."
Taiyang looked down at Yang, his eyes immediately going wide at the sight of his eldest daughter looking so hurt and vulnerable. "Yang? Yang what's wrong."
At their feet, Zwei, the family dog, came to a stop, whining with sagging ears as he began to process that his family was not happy.
"Dad…It's…" Yang shuddered, barely able to even bring herself to say what she had to. "It's Ruby…Ruby's…gone."
And so, the Meanwhile, Back at Beacon arc begins. The fallout of Ruby Rose dying on a mission would definitely be pretty heavy, so a hefty chunk of the early portion of this arc is dealing with how people, primarily Yang and Jaune, our main characters on this end, deal with it. Of course, Taiyang's reaction is especially important.
I may have wound up putting a little too much work in to Weiss' justifications for what she's done. But I did want to articulate the mental hoops canon Weiss might conceivably wind up jumping through in order to come to this particular course of action, but it essentially boils down to her taking Port's admonishment about "being someone used to getting what she wants," and going, "You're right, because I should get what I want."
In this particular sub-genre of RWBY fanfiction, Team CRDL are often additional culprits, and I considered adding them to the list, before deciding against it, mostly to make it manageable. That, and CRDL being the stereotypical jock-bullies is pretty old-hat at this point. Really, they wind up not having much of a role in this story at all.