I do not own RWBY or Fate universes. Here is an interlude about Yang. I hope you like it.

Interlude: Yang

Yang Xiao Long was officially lost.

She surveyed the scene around her warily. She was inside a ruined building that was dimly lit by the dying embers crackling around her. There were no Grimm wandering around here thankfully. But there was something about this particular place that just made her shudder.

Oh, it was definitely dark and cold here. But Yang somehow sensed that the particular chill down her spine was more due to her…ever increasing dread.

Something was approaching her. Or someone.

"Yang…" A weak voice then caught her attention.

Yang turned her head towards the source of the voice and widened her lilac eyes in response.

It was her partner, Blake. But she wasn't looking very good right now.

Blake was lying on the floor in anguish as her torso had suffered a large gash on it. Her right hand was clutching onto the wound as an attempt to stop the bleeding with little effect. Her eyes were staring out to Yang with terror and desperation in them.

"…Help me…Yang…"

"Blake!" Yang cried out as she ran towards her. "Hold on, I'm coming!"

Then the monster suddenly emerged in the distance behind Blake. The red accents in his hair, mask and outfit emitted a surreal glow in the darkness. Then it looked at her and grin at her maliciously.

Yang then felt the hairs stand up on the back of her neck. This monster is dangerous. It will kill her. It will kill Blake. It will destroy everything she cared about.

Yang skidded to a short stop as fear gripped onto her. She clenched her fists nervously as she took up a defensive boxing stance. She then feels weights on her wrists and looks down at her arms. Somehow, her signature yellow shotgun gauntlets appeared on her with plenty of ammo in its chambers. Yang grins briefly at this not unwelcomed development and then glares at her opponent with renewed confidence and anger.

"Get away from her!" Yang roared out as she launched a volley of explosive shells at the monster.

Only for her opponent to circumvent through every shot she fired, leaving eerie afterimages in its wake. It was like a ghost.

No, it was more like a vengeful wraith on the hunt.

"You cannot have her." The monster finally spoke out as it continued walking towards Blake's position. "She will leave you like everyone else will one way or another."

Yang gritted her teeth in frustration and tried to intercept him from reaching Blake's position.

Only she wasn't able to…

Yang glanced down, only to be alarmed. Ribbons of purple and black emerged from the shadows, wrapping around her legs and lower torso and preventing her from moving forward. These ribbons seemed alive as even more joined the fray and tightened their grip on her body. Thus they were preventing her from saving Blake…

Yang frantically tried to pull and tug away from these strange ribbons, but they were too strong for her strength. Yang even tried blasting through the ribbons, but somehow none of her bullets left a mere scratch on them. Desperation caught up to her.

She was trapped…

The monster had then arrived at Blake's position unhindered as Yang kept on struggling to get loose from the ribbons entangling her.

No…

Yang then could only watch helplessly as the monster slowly drew out his red katana and promptly pierced Blake through the chest, causing her gasp sharply in pain. Blake's amber eyes soon lost their light and her futile struggles soon ceased afterwards. Murky shadows then draped across her and she vanished into nothingness…

She was dead. Blake was dead. It was his fault. It was your fault. It was your fault….that she left you… alone.

Something broke inside her and her eyes unknowingly turned burning red.

"Diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeee!" Yang cried out with vengeance as she suddenly broke free of the ribbons with the newfound strength of her semblance. She leaped towards the monster itself with her gauntlet poised to promise utter punishment for her partner's murder.

Only for the monster to swiftly grab her by the throat and promptly slam her down onto the floor with inhuman-like strength, causing web-like cracks to form on the ground. She saw stars in her vision.

Yang groaned in pain as her bright yellow aura broke from the impact. The monster chuckled as it slowly hoisted her up in the air by the throat; Yang struggled to break free from its grip.

"So you are the one who Blake has been protecting all this time?" The monster mused as it brought her closer as if to study her. Yang briefly noticed that the monster had crimson red eyes which stared back at her with such great hatred.

"What does Blake mean to you? Why do you care…so much for her?"

"She…is…my…partner…. Partners…are…supposed…to…look…out…for…each…other…" Yang managed to choke out with hot tears. Damn it, why is she answering to this monster that killed Blake…?!

"Then do you know why you were abandoned by her in the end?" The monster questioned with its head slightly tilted at her.

Yang could only continue to struggle for air as the monster's hand only tightened around her throat with every passing second, leaving her unable to speak out.

"Because you are too weak to protect yourself. How can anyone trust you to protect them if you are weak as you are now?" The monster plainly answered for her.

"So it is your fault in the end." The monster shrugged emotionlessly. "So you can die alone."

Then it raised its crimson sword in its other hand as the fire-hot dust blade hissed in the cold air.

Then it lashed the sword at her with utter cold judgment.

She died alone. Painfully.

"Gahhhhhh!" Yang awakens up with a gasp. She immediately grasps onto her right arm in comfort, even though she has utterly no idea of why she was doing it in the first place. Yang tries to situate herself while still reeling from the memories of her nightmare.

She is in her room in her bed. She was not there anymore. That was not real. She is safe. She then breathes out heavily. It was just another nightmare...

She briefly glances at her alarm clock on her bedside table. It was 4:33 am in the morning. This is way too early to get up…but I don't feel like sleeping much anyways.

Yang groaned as she swept the blankets away from her and sat up on the side of the bed. Cold sweat drenched her back, dampening her pajamas. She thought back of what happened since the attack on Beacon Academy.

It has been about several weeks since her sister Ruby had left the house with Team JNPR, where she left a letter for Yang saying that they were heading to Mistral to search for answers. The older sister part of her wanted to go with Ruby to protect her. But she was hesitant... Could she protect Ruby if she couldn't protect herself, let alone anyone else?

And that wasn't the only reason of why she wasn't going to Mistral with Ruby.

After they had evacuated the students from Beacon, Yang was able to carry Blake away and leave her at one of the emergency hospital rooms for medical treatment. Then she turns away to briefly check up on Ruby, who was in coma for reasons she didn't know.

When she came back, Blake had disappeared from her cot. There was only a small note saying that she had to leave for unspoken reasons. Yang had frantically searched the entire medical facility for her before finally accepting the ugly truth presented to her.

Blake ran away from her. She was gone.

Yang didn't understand why Blake would choose to leave her. Why she would go when she was injured? Why she would not tell her where she was going? Why was she being left alone again?

Why Blake? When I needed you the most?

Along with the events that made her…not so stellar before the attack, Yang had finally broken down into tears at that moment. It was only then when Uncle Qrow came and took her away to Patch that she managed to get a hold onto her simmering emotions. So understandably, Yang was tired, confused, angry and depressed for the past several weeks. But more so, she was…very afraid.

She was afraid of being abandoned again.

She didn't understand why Blake would abandon her.

What did she do wrong?

"Argggghhhhhhhhhhh!" Yang scratched her head furiously in frustration before letting out a heavy sigh. "I can't think like this."

Yang then gazes out to the open backyard from her window. "Maybe a little fresh air will clear my head a bit." Then she looked at herself and made a face.

But first, she needed a change of clothes. And maybe a quick shower.

Right Jab. Double Left Hook. Right Uppercut. Left Hook. Right Cross.

Yang was practicing her usual boxing drills in the backyard. It was still early morning with the only light being from the broken moon in the sky. It was quiet though and she appreciated it for once. But she wasn't entirely focused in her punches as various thoughts continued to plague her concentration.

Double Left Hook.
"So…I want to trust you. I will trust you."

Feint, then Right Uppercut.

"I need you to promise me that you regret having to do what you did."

Right Jab.

"No…please…"

Left Uppercut.

"I'm sorry…It was my fault that he was here…"

Right Hook.

"Goodbye…Yang…"

"RAH!" Yang yelled out in frustration as she slammed her right fist to the side.

Crunch!

Yang paused as she slowly turned her head to the right. Her fist had inadvertently punched right through the trunk and left a large gaping hole. The huge tree then groaned as its new hole proved too much for it to support itself, causing it to fall with an audible crash onto the ground.

Oooooh, Dad is not going to like this. Yang thought with a slight wince. Maybe I could hide this somewhere before he wakes up?

"Ahem…" A voice interrupted her scheming thoughts.

Or not…Yang groaned as she slowly turned to the sight of a blond-haired man with a stern look on his face.

"May I ask what you are doing up this early in the morning, young lady?" Taiyang spoke to her with his arms crossed.

"I…couldn't sleep." Yang answered sheepishly.

"And how does that translate into killing that poor tree?"

"Ah…I had a few…things on my mind and I got…distracted." Yang mentally slapped herself for giving such a lame excuse.

"…" Taiyang stared her without a word before sighing to himself. "I understand that you haven't gotten over what has happened to you, and I don't expect things to be alright now. But I don't think taking a tree down is the way to go here, don't you agree?"

Yang felt her ears heat up in embarrassment and looked down. "I'm sorry, dad."

"It's fine. We will just have to clean it up later. However, instead of venting your frustrations on a tree, why don't you spar with a real opponent?" Taiyang said.

"Who? You?" Yang questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Sure, we could spar a bit. I would like to see if you haven't gotten rusty yet. Or are you not up for the challenge?" Taiyang smirked at her.

Yang would have been more than eager to fight against her dad at any other day, but she felt that there was something more to this spar than what she was initially seeing here. But she did need to blow some steam off…

"Sure, I'm up for it!" Yang answered with a small smile. One spar with her dad couldn't hurt. Right?

Yang and Taiyang slowly circle each other, arms at the ready. Blue and lilac eyes gaze at each other with sheer focus, as if daring the other to make the first move. There is a brief moment of pause in their movements as the tension between them reaches its peak. Then Taiyang takes the first move by delivering a swift roundhouse kick at Yang, who blocks with her right arm before countering with a kick of her own. Taiyang carefully ducks that and goes in with a flurry of punches that Yang manages to avoid by backing up a few feet. She then closes in and delivers a left hook, followed immediately by a vicious right cross. Taiyang weaves through the hook, but only manages to cross his arms in time to receive the cross, which sends his feet sliding back through the dirt.

"Whoa, you certainly haven't been getting rusty…" Taiyang shakes his arms from the tingling feeling. "Certainly much better than when we last sparred with each other."

"Hey, what could I say? I am stronger than before," Yang preened at the compliment.

"But you are still off balance."

Taiyang suddenly delivers a left hook on her face, catching her off guard and causing her to upper body to spin around. But Yang takes advantage of her turning momentum to deliver a right elbow jab at his face. But prepared for her counter, Taiyang blocks it with his left hand and knocks it away with his right. He backs off suddenly and taunts her with a grin on his face.

"Is that all you got?"

A bit ticked off, Yang then rushes towards him with a straight right punch, but Taiyang simply sidesteps, letting her bypass him. Then Taiyang immediately grabs onto her outstretched arm, and pulls her over his right shoulder. Yang then crashes onto the ground on her back and he chuckles as he leaves her there for a moment.

"You still haven't figured out how to keep your emotions in check."

Yang could only see dark sky as she lay on her back. She could see the sky was lightening up a bit to a paler blue. Then her dad's face appeared above her.

"Are you yanging in there?" Taiyang said teasingly above her with a hint of worry in his voice.

"Yeah, I am just admiring the view down here," Yang said as she got up a sitting position.

"You need to work on not telegraphing your movements like I have told you several times already before," Taiyang lectured her critically. "And you often lose your control of your emotions in battle. You rely on your semblance to win your battles, but it is like a temper tantrum. It's great when you're in a bind, but what happens when your opponent is stronger or better than you? What then?"

"I know…" Yang said while rolling her eyes. Yang already knew about her weaknesses. It was just…too damn hard to keep her emotions in check when she has so much anger in her. And it was much more satisfying beating down opponents like this.

That was she wanted to think, at least.

"Besides that, are you really okay?" The sound of her dad's voice dragged her out of her thoughts. "You haven't spoken much of what was distracting you this early in the morning."

"I'm fine…I just had a very unpleasant nightmare," Yang answered vaguely, not meeting his eyes.

Taiyang's eyes narrowed a bit. "You know, you could talk to me about whatever is bothering you. Trust me, I know how it feels to have such thoughts bottled inside you and it isn't very pleasant. And I am your dad."

Yang wanted to step away and say she is really fine. That he does not have worry about her. But she was not. And…she could trust her dad at least on this.

"I was too weak." Yang finally confessed to her dad.

"What do you mean?" Her dad's voice said concernedly.

"I was too weak to protect my friends. I was too weak to stop Blake from running away. I was too weak. I was too weak… too weak…" Yang said brokenly as tears formed in her eyes.

Yang's breath then hitched. Her dad's arms were wrapped around her, hugging her close to him. She grabs one of his arms in comfort as she tears up.

"You are not weak. You're Yang Xiao Long, my sunny little dragon." Taiyang brushes her golden-yellow hair carefully. "I don't know why your partner left you. And I don't pretend to know all the details of what is exactly bothering you. But I can tell you that you have great strength within you, just like your mother." Taiyang said to her in a comforting tone.

"My mother? Oh, so now we can talk about her?" Yang said with some sarcasm as she wiped her tears away. But she is feeling a little better. Not much, but better.

Taiyang chuckles. "Well, I think you're an adult right now, right? I believe you are ready to hear some things about her."

"Your mother's best traits are definitely inside you. She was great in so many ways- her strength, her ambition, and her stubbornness to whatever cause she thought were worth fighting for. And believe me, she had a lot of things that she fought about, even for the most silliest things." Taiyang laughed for a bit before continuing. "But…I'm glad that not all of her traits were inside you."

"Why?" Yang asked as she learned about the mother she never knew about.

"She was… a complicated woman. She did have her good points, but her personal flaws were ultimately what broke up Team STRQ, and did a number on our family in the end." Taiyang said vaguely.

"So what makes me so different from her?" Yang said with some annoyance in her voice.

Taiyang ponders for a bit before answering. "Well, you are definitely more cheerful and outgoing than she was, even though I think that comes from your Xiao-Long genes. But you are not arrogant or self-centered as she was. You are certainly prideful, but you don't let that go into your head and forget why you were fighting. And what I can say is you are not her, and I don't think your friend would leave you for that reason."

"More so, you are not alone, Yang. I know that you feel guilty about Raven leaving you for a long time, but I want to say this. It was not your fault to begin with." Taiyang said softly.

Yang froze at that moment. How does he know that? About the very issue that plagued her to this day?

"I know because I was the same when Raven left me. Summer helped make me forget some of that later, but I realized that I wasn't quite over it till she was also gone from my life. I…know that I wasn't in the best of minds when Summer had suddenly disappeared on a mission. I had locked myself up from the family and loathed myself for things I couldn't have really changed on my own. And it still hurts inside. But one day, I woke up and concluded that it wasn't my fault that Raven left the family. I was afraid of being left alone, but I vowed to myself not to lose my sight of the people that I still have to protect around me," Taiyang explained as if reading her own thoughts.

"And I would like to say it was not your fault that your partner left you. And it was never your fault that Raven left you with me. So please forgive yourself." Taiyang said with strength in his voice.

Yang didn't know what exactly happened in that moment, but she felt the weight of her guilt, fear, and anger lessen somewhat. It was still there. But she felt a bit more like herself now. "Thanks, dad. I needed that."

"You're welcome. Now, with that depressing stuff out of the way, why don't we make some breakfast together? I don't know about you, but I'm starving!" Taiyang gave her a wide smile.

Yang watched as her dad stood up and walked towards the house. Yang didn't know what was exactly going on in her life and she wasn't quite over with Blake's disappearance. But Yang finally felt more clear-headed than she had felt after the breach. And even with the searing image of a crimson blade in her mind, she felt she could at least move on.

"Well, are you coming?"

Yang could only smile and ran back to the house to rejoin with her dad. And she silently renewed her convictions to protect her loved ones no matter what.

The bright yellow sun finally broke through the horizon as she entered the house.

I decided that there should be a change in pace in the story and I incorporated something from the outside world for that purpose. I chose Yang for this interlude as that she is probably one of the most affected characters from Gray crashing down on the plot, so I have pondered on this for several weeks. Yang is actually quite an interesting character to write about and I still think I needed more time to think about this. That being said, I am sure there are going to be a quite few people who will have some criticism about this interlude. I understand that, but please keep your reviews polite and constructive.

I will say that I do really take time to study various elements of each universe, yet I am also invested in story plot in the end. But I acknowledge the fact that as a new writer, I have plenty of room to improve. I mostly write things down without pause for hours, and I simply tweak a few things here and there to make it flow better. And I have changed my expected chapter release to biweekly ones partly due to this reason.

An interesting thing I would have to note about my interludes so far is that I seem to start out with a dream of some sorts. But I would say that some of those dreams and the interludes themselves do contain a few hints of what is going to happen later in the story…

A side note: A fun question for you guys. What types of weapons would you like to combine to make a new one and what would you call it? (Ex: I would like to combine a railgun and a heavy broadsword, and I would call it Photon Crusher.)

As always, please favorite and/or follow this story if you wish to come back and continue to read this story.