A/N: Soz guys for the delay. I have assignments and exams and things and I have been a little stressed out lately, so yeah. Hope you enjoy, at first i was unsure of this but now i kinda love it lol :P
Blake was still left to her own devices, struggling to predict each attack before she felt it scrape along her body, her aura reaching the end of its capacity. Ityei didn't seem to be giving up his disappearing act any time soon, popping in and out of visibility just in time to strike and then quickly fade away before Blake was able to attempt a counter attack. Blake was amazed at how long this faunas could keep at it, surely he was using large amounts of aura to keep it up. But Blake didn't want to place a bet on how long he would last because she knew how long she would last and right now it wasn't looking good.
Even though Blake had her enhanced eye sight she still had a hard time even looking a flicker of movement, she could see in the dark and see further than any human, but she couldn't see things that can't be seen. Blake tried to use her ears instead of her eyes, calming herself and forcing her mind to ignore the background noises of further battles going on around her. She blocked out the explosions, the clanging, the yelling, all of it, her ears twitching as she tried to hone in on the area around her.
…..
There!
Blake spun around believing in her senses, telling her to turn around. But when she spun around to meet her opponent, he wasn't there. Instead he appeared at her side kicking into her ribs and then slashing forward as she staggered away. When Blake flipped back onto her feet, he was gone again. Blake growled in frustration. She was being toyed with, he could have ended her in one attack but he was playing around with her. Blake was a cat, she was the one who does the toying.
Blake released the clip in Gamboul Shroud, letting it fall to the floor with a small clunk. She fished around in her pouch, looking for a specific item. She finally felt her fingers brush against the item and pulled it out and slammed it into Gamboul Shroud, cocked back the pistol and returned the sheath portion back over the blade. This was only the second time she used this specific item that Weiss had given her. The first time didn't go as planned, albeit she had no idea what to expect when she tested it, so hopefully this time around things would go to plan.
One whole clip filled with pure dust. Pure, white dust that shined bright, so bright at times it had to be kept wrapped up. Blake was slightly afraid whenever she came to use dust like this, she felt as though it was incompatible with her naturally dark aura, light and dark were indeed opposites, although when it came to Yang that rule seemed to disintegrate. Which is why Blake was determined to have this work, besides the fact that her life may very well depend on it, she wanted to prove a point to herself, she wanted believe she wasn't as dark as she believed.
Holding Gamboul Shroud in both her hands vertically in front of her, she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. This had to work.
When she released the last of her breath her eyes shot open and she poured her aura into the weapon in her palm, passing it through the dust and calling it back toward her. Her body tingled as her aura came back to her, bringing with it the power of the dust in her weapon. Although it was her aura it still felt different, it felt heavy and thick and where her aura was generally quiet and silent, this aura was energetic and buzzing with power.
Her eyes still held their usually amber colour but now they glowed a bright amber, an orange shimmer illuminating the area around her eyes, Blake's body shook as her semblance came to life, moving her empowered aura through her body. Finally she spun Gamboul Shroud around and slammed it into the floor, her figure shimmered golden for a moment, as if she was out of focus and a second golden image was present around her. Then in an instant that same image burst from Blake's body, just like any other shadow clone she conjured. Except this glowed golden and was much more powerful.
This clone was for from a shadow, showing no sign of any darkness within it even going so far to remove the darkness from around it, illuminating the area around it. This is what scared Blake, this clone was a part of her, yes it came from the use of dust, but it was her aura that brought it to life. This clone was a part of Blake and it seemed to do nothing but fight against the darkness, so what would it do to Blake? Blake believed herself to still be tainted, she still hadn't let go of her former self, the part of her that lived and thrived in the shadows, Blake believed she still had darkness within her and the fact that she was able to summon a part of herself that destroyed darkness, confused her and made her question herself.
The first time she ever summoned this clone it had simply turned to face her, looked at her with narrowed eyes, staring at her as if it was looking for something. That time it seemed to find what it was looking for, but before it could move toward her, it shimmered and collapsed spontaneously, exploding violently, releasing all of its energy. When Blake got back to her feet she was left with an unsettling feeling, the way her clone looked at her stayed with her till this day.
But right now, no matter how much it scared her, Blake needed it, she made a promise to Yang. A promise that they would all get out of this alive, she was one of them. The clone shot toward Blake and for a second Blake actually believed it was coming for her, but it passed through her and stopped behind her, blocking an attack from Ityei who had moved behind Blake. Torchwick was just as surprised as Ityei when he watched a gold glowing Blake shoot across the ground, pass right through Blake and then bring it's sword up to parry a strike that shouldn't have been visible. Ityei was definitely not expecting it, one moment he was looking at Blake's back, the next he had a bright figure standing before him, knocking his sword to the side.
Ityei didn't stop to try and asses who was in front of him, rolling to the side and going invisible again. But when he got to his feet that same amber glow was before him striking out at his invisible form. He didn't believe that he could be seen, so he didn't even bother to block the attack, taking the strike across his chest. What was even more surprising was the power behind the attack, the physical aspect of the strike was nothing spectacular, but the sheer power behind it exploded against him and threw him back off his feet. When Ityei got back to his feet he got his first look at the figure, he found a replica of Blake standing in front of him, but this Blake was bathed entirely in an amber glow and as he stared at it, it stared back, narrowing its eyes at him as if it was searching for something.
Ityei never gave it the chance to find it, dashing toward it with blinding speed, but the clone remained still, not bothering to move an inch as Ityei sped towards it. Just before Ityei struck out against it, the strangest thing happened, even Blake didn't know it was going to happen. The amber clone made its own clone to dodge the attack, dashing to the side just before the katana made contact. Immediately the clone's light became dimmer than before, perhaps summoning its own clone was too much for it. But still, the clone slashed out at Ityei's side, quickly slashing the opposite way as Ityei spun around, before slashing horizontally and spinning with the attack. As it spun it brought it Gamboul shroud over its head and brought it down in a wide overhead arc, releasing a beam of golden light that slammed into Ityei and exploded against his aura, shattering his defence and shooting him yards away.
The clone silently returned its weapon to its holster, turning as it did to look at Blake. Blake locked eyes with it as it continued to stare at her, probably searching for that same thing as last time. Immediately Blake began to feel that sense of unease and uncertainty, somehow believing that the clone, that was a part of her, would eventually attack her, a thought that haunted her since she first summoned her. But for now it didn't make a move to come and attack her, instead it simply looked away from Blake and turned to Torchwick, looking at him for a moment before gently fading away.
Blake forced herself to push the feelings from her mind, the clone knew Blake was busy with her own fight and left her with the reminder that Torchwick was still watching her from a distance. Blake looked at the criminal and smiled. This, would be easy.
Strike for strike, blow for blow, fire with fire. They say not to fight fire with fire, Yang likes to say something a little different. "Don't fight fire with fire, unless your flame is brighter." It was something she lived by, Yang knew when to fight and when to back down, she knew her limits and knew how to assess an enemy, but it was those times where she let her anger get the best of her she made mistakes. Fortunately, in cases such as that it was a hit and miss situation, her judgment became cloudy when she was furious, but she also burned brighter, it was a trade-off Yang was very comfortable with.
Cinder was holding her own just as evenly as Yang was. Every blow she managed to inflict upon the blonde, was rewarded with an equally powerful attack. Cinder had to constantly keep managing her dust, summoning it whenever one of Yang's fists made it past her swords and made its way toward her body. Yang's knuckles would smack against the dust, followed by a shattering noise as the dust was blown away. Ember Celica was frequently heard blasting off round after round, adding to Yang's already powerful blows. Her arms were a blur as she jabbed, hooked and weaved between attack and counter-attack, Cinder's blades almost mimicking Yang, slicing through the air precisely and leaving scratches along Yang's gauntlets.
The air around the two was steadily increasing in temperature as Yang continued to burn furiously, her hair giving off a golden glow, the flames around her hair flickering gold and burning intensely. Cinder's dress soon began to take on its own glow, dark piercing orange that ran along the patterns through her dress. Don't fight fire with fire.
There was a difference between a fire and an inferno. A fire flickered gently in the wind, warming the area around it and brining light into the world. An inferno blazed furiously, ripping through whatever was in its path, burning with furious warmth that bathed its world in a glorious light that threatened to incinerate what darkness it could find.
Yang was this inferno and Cinder was the fire, the dark fire that flickered intently in the shadows. Don't fight fire with fire, unless your flame is brighter.
"AAH!"
BOOM!
Ruby had resigned to stand at a distance away from her sister and Cinder, thinking it better to not get in their way. There really was no way for her to help without her getting in the way. If you play with fire you're bound to get burnt. When it came to Yang, that rule definitely applied. So Ruby stood at a distance, with Crescent Rose ready to spring in to action at any moment. She stole a glance toward Weiss and Winter, the two sisters still locked in battle with Mercury and Emerald. In that particular moment Ruby witnessed Weiss deftly create a dome of glyphs around her opponent, before she dashed toward one of them and was launched into a flurry of motion. Being passed from glyph to glyph whilst each time going by Mercury, slashing and slicing at him, wearing down his aura in mere seconds. It was a marvel at how fast she moved, Ruby couldn't help but stare in awe as she struggled to count each attack as it was delivered. Right now Weiss was frighteningly fast, Mercury didn't stand a chance.
Ruby looked away just before Mercury fell to the floor, returning her attention back to her sister, just in time to see Cinder take the brunt of a punch, absorbing it with her dust and using the remaining force to backflip away from the blonde, increasing the distance from a few inches to a few meters. Ruby watched as Cinder stood apart from her sister, slowly being engulfed in her own flames, raising her palm as it began to glow intensely. Soon Cinder's entire arm was covered in fire, as if she was wearing a glove of pure fire, burning intensely. Cinder added dust to her burning arm, relishing the moment of slight euphoria as she felt the pure energy rush through her. The fire along her arm burst momentarily, flaring up violently before it quickly died down, but Ruby knew the power was still there.
Yang cocked back Ember Celica, reloading it quickly before charging back into the fight. Ruby wanted to yell out, to tell Yang to watch out but a huge double headed axe entered her vision and she was forced to roll away. Brorn had decided to get up and made his way over to the red head, fed up and annoyed by the way he had bene thrown around, he had a score to settle. Ruby rolled onto her feet and looked up at him, just before she heard her sister yell out.
"AAH!"
BOOM!
Cinder drew her arm back, concentrating on keeping the fire under control. She waited for Yang to make her move, smiling as the blonde carelessly charge toward her, firing her gauntlets and launching herself toward her, fist pulled back.
"AAAH!"
Cinder heard her yell before she thrust her palm forward toward Yang, a bright red beam shot from her palm, a dark red that bubbled and glowed darkly. The beam made contact with Yang's fist, exploding on contact, a huge ball of energy covered Yang, blowing around her entire form, ripping up the concrete and road underneath her feet. The street pole a few meters behind her melted immediately, disappearing within the cloud of fire.
Cinder drew her arm back, allowing the fire to settle down with a hiss, but leaving the fire around her form to burn. She waited as the cloud was slowly cleared by the wind, waiting to see how much of the blonde was left.
Ruby completely forgot about the brute standing in front of her, her attention focused on her sister. Ruby was beyond shocked to have been looking at Yang in one moment and in the very next moment all she saw was a huge cloud of red hot fire that resembled lava exploding outward. Where was Yang? Yang was in there! What happened to her?
Ruby swung Crescent Rose around in an attempt to shoot off to her sister's side, but once again she was forced to cancel that plan as two blades came rushing towards her. The first spun her around while the second struck out in a jab, pushing her back. Now before her stood Brorn and Azura.
You don't fight fire with fire, unless your flame is brighter. But what if it wasn't? "Then make it brighter." That was Yang's response. Yang wasn't one to give up easily, especially when it came to her own principles. If they didn't seem to apply, bend them until they did. How do you make a flame burn brighter? You feed it and what better food to feed it then the other fires power? Luckily for Yang she always had room for more.
Cinder was happy to find the blonde lying face first on the ground at the end of a crevice her body seemed to have formed as she was blown into and along the ground. Cinder smiled to herself as the blonde was covered in darkness, no longer burning with that pathetic golden light, she was done. So when Cinder turned away and immediately saw a bright light in her peripheral, she was beyond irritated to find Yang slowly getting back up.
Yang stood slowly, fire returning to her body and hair and to Cinder's hatred, burning brighter than before. Cinder growled and dug her nails into her palms, 'Why won't they just DIE!' Yang's hand, where the beam hit her was burnt and bleeding, her gauntlet had been damaged as well, the front part melted and torn away. No matter, she had two hands. Yang turned around to face Cinder, her eyes turning red again and her body exploded. Fire suddenly burst from her body violently, sending a shockwave outward around her, causing those too close to her to stagger away. Yang was burning so brightly that it was hard to actually see her body, she was completely covered in a gold light that flickered and illuminated the darkness without mercy. Cinder blinked as she tried to focus on the blonde, but in the time it took her to blink, Yang had made her way over to Cinder and had thrown her fist with all her might at Cinder's chest.
Cinder watched as Yang began to shrink away from her at alarming speeds and she was confused for a moment before her back slammed against a building, crashing through a support and continuing into the building, smashing glass and desks as she bounced through the office. Cinder struggled to her feet, dazed and in large amounts of pain, she was not only infuriated she was confused. What had just happened? Even form this distance, when she looked up, Yang was still shining intensely and seemed to illuminate the entire world. 'What the hell are these kids?'
Cinder stumbled to her feet, never taking her eyes of the girl, watching as the girls fire burned around her, flickering and dancing in the wind, resembling wings that were ignited with gold, giving Yang the appearance of a golden angel.
Blake forced herself to remove her sword from Torchwick's exposed neck, she wanted nothing more to slight his throat and be done with him. Be done with his pathetic presence, be done with his sly comments and his deceptive words. But she knew she couldn't do it, she wasn't a murderer, she wasn't.
"What's wrong Blake? It's not like you haven't done this before."
Blake's head snapped back to Torchwick who was lying on the floor underneath her boot, her heel digging painfully into his chest.
"What did you say?" Blake hissed, returning the blade back to its position.
Torchwick laughed, ignoring the point against his throat.
"I mean, I wouldn't be the first person you killed right?"
"Shut up!"
"Hey now, no need to get pissy, I'll be honest, I've done it before too."
"I don't care what you've done! You're a monster, I am nothing like you!" Blake added more pressure against her blade.
"I'm a monster? Hmm, lemme think about that. Monster…. Like scare people and live in the dark? Well the only one in the shadows here is you."
Blake's eyes widened at his words. His damn, sly words. Torchwick continued before she could.
"Adam and his buddy's told me a lot about you. You've done some naught things. Burning stores, raiding warehouses, stealing whole trains! What was that other one they told me about? Oh yeah that's right," he paused but Blake already knew what he was going to say. "Assassination."
"No! No it's not like that!" Blake yelled, stepping off Torchwick and swinging her sword in denial.
"You can't run from your past Blake. You are who you are, you can't fight it. Your just as dark as me, as Cinder, as Adam. You lived and thrived in the shadows, not even I could do that."
"Shut up! Shut! Up!" Blake shook her head and continued to step away.
"You killed them and you knew you were doing it."
"They were bad people!"
"So what about you! Are you not a bad person? Do you not deserve to die?"
Blake stopped and looked at Torchwick. His words, they got to her, was he right?
"What do you think kitty cat?"
Blake couldn't help but believe him in the slightest. Even as he leveled his cane at her heart, she hated herself for believing him.
A/N: Review please? Sorry if your annoyed by the dragging out...
