Chapter 38
Tough Love
"So there I was. Tied to his bed. Screaming like a banshee as he rubbed ice cubes all over my body..."
Yang paused to gauge the interest of the audience sitting around the table with her, breaths bated and bright auras causing the dining hall to become noticeably more humid. Across from her, Nora hung onto every word with her mouth gaping open and on the verge of drooling while beside her Pyrrha smirked with half-lidded eyes as if in the middle of a vivid daydream.
As her partner continued excitedly, Blake couldn't help rolling her eyes having already heard the story a dozen times now, but despite being able to repeat each wildly differing account verbatim, she had still made sure to get the best seat in the house next to Yang and her impassioned aura. On the other side of the table, Weiss sat on the other side of Pyrrha doing her best to concentrate on her tome and ignore the conversation at hand while Ruby ate a bowl of cereal beside her. Sitting several seats down from the gaggle of girls, Jaune and Ren were also doing their best to ignore Yang, as well as the occasional lustful gazes of their respective partners.
The teams were all alone in the dining hall due to rising sometime after lunch, but despite sitting there with only her friends and teammates as witnesses, Weiss couldn't help occasionally glancing around just to make sure nobody else wandered in. Yang might not have had any sense of shame or decency, but Weiss Schnee had more than enough to go around. Even so she remained firmly glued to her seat barely able to read a sentence without getting distracted, and feared what the others might've seen or felt in her aura whenever she flared it to cool her cheeks. A part of her hoped that Ruby would get up and leave so that she would have an excuse to go with her, but a louder and more persuasive voice told her to remain exactly where she was.
Ruby seemed to be the only one not actively listening as she devoured her second bowl of Pumpkin Pete's cereal. Occasionally she'd glance up at her sister with narrowed eyes as though her story and accompanying theatrics were disturbing her morning ritual, but otherwise she ignored her and hadn't said a word since politely greeting JNPR outside their room. In fact, besides saying good morning and goodnight, Ruby had hardly said a word to her sister since returning from the airship.
For the first time in nearly a month, Ruby went an entire night without a nightmare, then followed it up with another and had even spent both nights alone in her own bed, besides for Zwei of course. Every time she went to the bathroom she would check for scars but they were hardly visible now and her mother's aura almost indistinguishable from her own. Even her feet were feeling better, though they still tingled as though half-asleep sometimes and would hurt if she stayed on them for too long.
Perhaps more importantly her appetite had returned, and had already eaten half of Weiss' breakfast without her realizing it.
"Yesterday he was the one tied up," Weiss interrupted, her aura uncharacteristically feverish. "And it was whipped cream, not ice cubes."
"I didn't know you were paying so close attention," Yang said, grinning from ear to ear. "You ever think that maybe we took turns?"
"I-I-" Everyone turned to look at the stuttering heiress who slammed her fist atop the table. "Every time you tell the story it changes and gets that much more ridiculous and absurd!"
"It's a good story though," Pyrrha said with a lopsided grin. "Keep going. You're almost to my favorite part..." Nora nodded and everyone quickly forgot about Weiss, who eagerly leaned forward and clamped her hands over Ruby's ears.
By the time Yang reached the climax of her epic tale Ruby had finished five bowls of cereal and a second cup of coffee, and along with having her ears branded by Weiss' rings, she'd nearly gone blind multiple times trying to read from her large tome. Everyone including her own partner had been too preoccupied to notice Ruby activating her semblance, and although she couldn't read the ancient language herself, she had been just fast enough to recognize a few runes before her eyes began to blur. They were names universally known in the common tongue, but Ruby recognized them from the book of fairy tales she had hardly put down since her talk with Penny.
The four royal houses of Remnant was a subject Weiss considered herself an expert in and often studied as light reading, but Ruby found it too much of a coincidence for both of them to be reading about the royal families at the same time, albeit one through the lens of fairy tales and the other directly from history books. Perhaps it was simply residual from their soul dive, her own curiosity subconsciously affecting her partner, or perhaps as usual Weiss was just one step ahead of her.
The DSNY princess spoon in Ruby's hand suddenly bent as she considered Yang having told Weiss and Blake not only the truth about Patchwork, but also the existence of Maidens and her mom being the real life Transient Princess.
She sensed that was unlikely however, and a part of her still wondered if Penny hadn't made a mistake or her programming an error. Ruby could accept being a descendent of royalty. After all, through her dad she was distantly related to the Lionhearts, and everyone on Remnant was related if they went back far enough.
Perhaps instead of being descendants of the Calaveras, the royal house of Vacuo, her mom and herself were simply distantly related to them. Along with Vale's royal family, the immediate successors to the throne had supposedly all been killed but there were still descendants of their relatives alive. None of them were particularly notable in Ruby's mind, or Weiss' for that matter, but having believed in the prophecies of Vacuo's 'Transient Princess' and Vale's 'Fallen Queen' or 'Queen of Cinders' since she was a little girl, it was difficult not to be the least bit skeptical.
Her mom seemed to fit the bill of The Transient Princess, and truthfully Ruby knew almost nothing about her side of the family. The only thing that seemed for certain was that her mom's grandmother had been a woman named Rose, and that she had lived in the very same cottage that Ruby had later grown up in.
Perhaps Penny had simply made an honest mistake, or took the story of 'The Four Maidens' too literally. Her mom had been a powerful huntress and master aura manipulator after all, and perhaps being a descendent of Vacuoan royalty and a modern day Maiden wasn't as special as she had made it sound. Maybe it was something she'd even mention to strangers to help break the ice, much like how her daughter would talk about how many cookies she could fit in her mouth at once before anxiously asking if anyone wanted a demonstration.
Somehow Ruby doubted this, and she glared at her sister across the table, her blatant lies causing her ears to sting despite Weiss' warm hands covering them. As she chewed her cereal into a fine powder Yang came to the epilogue of her story after it's climax turned out to be nothing more than a ruse building toward the penultimate climax that Yang had been all too happy to reenact with Blake's more than reluctant help.
Finally, sitting silently in the grand dining hall of the prestigious Beacon Academy, it's floor to ceiling stained glass windows covered with steam, Nora let out a little 'Wow...' while heads all around slowly nodded in agreement.
"But alas," Yang said dramatically, slumping as if having spent all of her energy. "The next time Henry and I lock eyes it'll be on the field of battle, not a bed of desire. Once again we'll fight for position and scream each other's names, but unlike last time I'll be the one on top and he'll be the one begging me to stop!"
With some effort she stood up on unsteady legs and took a bow as her audience applauded and sang her duly earned praises, all of which were accompanied by the sound of Ruby's spoon clinking against the sides of her bowl.
"Love's not fair!" Nora declared, blowing her nose like a trumpet.
The praises turned to laughter and high-pitched giggles but none were more hysterical than Pyrrha's who appeared to be having difficulty breathing. Growing up she'd never had too many female friends, at least not the kind who'd discuss boys so intimately. Becoming a four time, undefeated regional champion hadn't allotted much time for relationships, or socializing outside of class for that matter, and the only student's Sanctum Academy's headmaster had approved of her being around had generally been rivals for his daughter's title of valedictorian.
Because of this she had come to relish her friendships with other girls like Nora and Team RWBY, and particularly enjoyed Yang's colorful stories no matter how improbable or whether they changed day-to-day or by the hour.
"You and Henry Marigold," she said, shaking her head in disbelief. "The only way you'll be able to top yourself now is with a Lionheart or Schnee."
Weiss made a choking sound and looked up at her worriedly. "Please don't give her any ideas."
Across the table Yang smirked like a shark smelling blood in the water. "Too late..."
"Yang," she hissed, "I know what you're about to say, and if you say one more word I'll tape your mouth shut with a glyph I've been saving just for the occasion."
"That's fine. I know sign language." As proof, Yang began gesturing with her hands what exactly she had in mind.
"Tape your mouth shut and tie your hands together..." Weiss added after a particularly crude gesture that certainly hadn't been taught to her during class.
"So what you're saying is that you wanna tie me up just like Henry but you're not into screamers? Alright, I'm game if you are. My bed or yours?"
Weiss' eyes widened. "No! T-that came out wrong! If you'd get your mind out of the gutter for two seconds I-I-"
"Listen," Yang said, "I'm probably the last person who has any right to kink shame, but I'm not the one who likes being choked in the shower."
From the other side of the table, Jaune spat out his drink and stared wide-eyed at Weiss, who suddenly became the center of JNPR's attention.
"S-she's lying!"
"I've got video," Blake said helpfully, speaking for perhaps the first time that morning.
Weiss pulled out her scroll, eyeing the two as they retrieved their own. "Just as a reminder, the beginning of the video involves you being spun upside down in your birthday suit and falling head first into a bathtub, and ends with you having Crescent Rose shoved somewhere I'd rather not ever see again."
All three froze and narrowed their eyes at one another, all the while Ruby continued eating her cereal. Having come to an understanding that now wasn't the time to press Team RWBY"s mutual assured destruction button, they lowered their scrolls much to the other team's chagrin.
"So," Yang said cheerfully, addressing the other girls at the table. "What's y'all's team's kinks? You ever surprise Ren with jumper cables, Nora? What about you, Pyrrha? You ever sensually remove Jaune's armor or maybe his pants using your semblance?"
A few tables down the boys coughed but their partners being all too happy to play along merely smirked before stealing sideways glances at them. "Maybe..."
Yang laughed. "Why can't y'all be this much fun?" she asked, addressing her teammates and stressing her sister's occasional rural vocabulary, earning her a murderous glare across the table.
"It's alright boys," Pyrrha called. "It's safe. We won't bite."
"For now..." Nora added.
Uncertain and rightfully cautious, Jaune and Ren got out of their seats to join their partners, with Nora moving over so Jaune could sit beside Pyrrha while Ren sat on the end and immediately found himself being snuggled against.
Across the table Yang fluttered her eyelashes and flared her aura so that the temperature rose a few degrees, causing Jaune to immediately squeak and for everyone to get a chuckle at the expense of the poor boy who had the misfortune of sitting across from Yang Xiao Long while his girlfriend sat beside him, and also his previous crush on the other side of her.
"Hi, Jaune," said the blonde in a husky voice. "Is that a scroll in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"
As he fumbled over his words unsure if speaking was actually a good idea or not, Pyrrha laughed and patted him on the back. "And this is exactly why all the girls in the school refer to you as 'Homewrecker'." After giving the girl a sly grin she turned to her partner. "We've been over this before, Jaune. You're allowed to find other girls attractive, and if you didn't find Yang attractive I'd honestly wonder about you. You don't think I find her attractive?"
Yang grinned and nodded in approval. "What's wrong, Jaune? Why don't you flare your aura for us? Afraid Pyrrha might sense something she doesn't like?"
He let out a miserable groan and looked up apologetically at his partner who was thoroughly amused but also seemed to take pity on him. "Who's the letter from?" she asked, pointing at the envelopes and folded papers in front of him that he received in the mail earlier that morning.
"I-it's from Saphron," he stuttered, his mouth in desperate need of a drink. "She got promoted to s-supervisor last week. She already told me over the phone but you know how she is with writing everyone letters." When he received curious looks across the table he rubbed the back of his neck, unsure where to start.
"Saphron's the youngest of his three older sisters," Pyrrha explained. "She works at the CCT relay tower in Argos as a manager- I mean, supervisor in the emergency communications center."
"Aren't older sisters just the best?" Yang sighed dreamily.
"Speak for yourself..." muttered Jaune, Weiss, and Ruby in unison.
"Look, Rubes! There's actually someone else other than you that still writes letters! You two oughta be pen pals!" Yang clapped her hands in excitement at the prospect of her baby sister possibly making another friend, but rather than responding Ruby ignored her and poured yet another bowl of cereal before sprinkling sugar on top.
"Here's a picture of her," Nora said cheerfully, raising her scroll for everyone to see. In the holographic photo stood a tall young woman with dirty blond hair and bright blue eyes, and much like her younger brother whom she greatly resembled, she wore faded jeans and an orange top with the Arc family crest, and looked to be standing at some kind of nightclub.
"Wow," Yang said aloud. "She's cute, and you two could almost be twins. We're both girls and most people don't even know Rubes and I are related."
"Did she say if she's coming to the tournament," Pyrrha asked, ignoring the icy glare Ruby was giving her half-sister.
Jaune shook his head. "She just got promoted which means all the other supervisors have seniority over her, and after what happened in Vale, all the other CTT's are on high alert and everyone's on standby. I doubt she even knows when her next day off is, let alone her vacation."
Pyrrha frowned. "That's a shame. I was really looking forward to finally getting to meet her."
"I'd watch out if I were you, Jaune," Yang teased. "Your girlfriend might just run off with another blue-eyed blond if you're not careful."
"W-what?"
Grinning ear to ear, Pyrrha wrapped an arm around him. "As much as I may like that, Blake is probably more Saphron's type than I am. I can't even remember the last book I read."
All eyes turned to the blushing bookworm who had quietly returned to reading, and she received a playful nudge from her partner that nearly knocked her out of her seat. "Hear that? Looks like we can add another blond to your harem. Hey, Jaune? I'm guessing Saphron's on the taller side, but she doesn't happen to be named after the sun is she? Tall, blond, and named after the sun is kinda Blake's type."
"Uh, well, I-"
Blake elbowed her back. "I do not have a harem, and please stop calling it that..."
"It's been a while since I last visited Argus," Weiss said thoughtfully, saving both Jaune and Blake from the unwanted attention. "Since after the school year I'll be returning to Atlas anyway, how about we all vacation there together? My treat."
Surprise silenced the table as they all arched their necks to study the uncharacteristically generous heiress. "That would be lovely," Pyrrha said finally. "Thank you, Weiss, but you don't need to go through all the trouble."
Weiss beamed up at her. "It's hardly any trouble. I'm sure Jaune would like to visit you and his sister over the break, and don't you two already live in northern Mistral?"
Nora nodded while Ren shook his head, and noticing that the other was doing the opposite they reversed course leaving the other team confused. "We don't exactly have homes per say," said Ren, who much like Blake didn't seem to be enjoying the attention and had possibly spoken for the first time that morning. "We have family in both Mistral and Vale, but before Beacon we mostly just floated between combat schools."
"We actually spent a semester at Sanctum a couple of years ago," Nora said, "and since Pyrrha's dad's the headmaster, she's already offered to let us stay in the guest dorm during the break."
"Then it's settled," Weiss said looking pleased with herself. "After the school year I'll fly us to the City of Mistral where we'll take the Argus Limited north. Trust me, nothing can compare to the luxury of a state of the art SDC transcontinental locomotive."
"No trains!" shouted Yang and Blake in unison, causing everyone at the table to stop and stare at them.
"Bad things happen when I get on trains..." Blake mumbled, shrinking back into her shadow and behind her book.
"Ditto, but wasn't it technically the same train?"
Blake glared and resisted the urge to elbow her again and apologize to Weiss. "How about we get some ice cream later?" she said. "Neapolitan's your favorite, right? It looks like rain later. Maybe we should bring an umbrella..."
Yang blanched and glared back at her. "Fine, but only if you take Zwei out for a walk..."
After a few more silent threats only they could hear, the partners turned away from one another agreeing to consider it a draw, which for Blake was a rare victory. Glancing back at the image Nora still had in her hand, a puzzled look crossed Yang's face and she pointed. "Where was that picture taken? It looks really familiar for some reason."
Jaune shrugged while beside him Pyrrha snorted and covered her mouth. "I'm sorry," she apologized, fighting back giggles, "but unless I'm mistaken it was taken inside a popular nightclub in Argus. Being underage and a model student I never visited there myself, but I heard it was a popular place for huntresses looking to pick up civilian girls..."
It took a moment for her meaning to set in, which caused a few more chuckles from around the table. Yang meanwhile merely continued to stare before retrieving her own scroll and opening various folders. Keeping it under the table, she went through dozens of pictures before stopping on one in particular.
"Huh," Yang murmured. "Thought the place looked familiar..."
Blake's eyes widened as her partner flipped through photos, and quickly stole a glance at Jaune who was busy fighting his teammates over the letters. Cupping a hand over her mouth she leaned over as if trying to look around Yang's wild mane. "Is that-"
"Yep," she answered matter-of-factly. "And the inside of her apartment apparently..."
"How do you recognize a bar before you do a person!?" she hissed. "Especially a person you go home with!?"
Yang shrugged and covered her mouth so that Jaune couldn't hear. If it had been his non-existent brother or a younger sister she wouldn't have bothered, but older sisters were something sacred to the world and she didn't want to tarnish a younger sibling's perception of what perfection was like.
"It happens more often than you'd think," Yang said. "Remember me telling you about that all expense vacation I got when the academies were all trying to recruit me? Well, I spent a few days in Argus waiting for my flight and didn't exactly spend them sober. This was when I was looking for my- um, you-know-who, and wasn't exactly sure if I'd be coming back. I vaguely remember meeting a girl at some club I'd stumbled into because it had pretty lights and killer music. She bought me a drink and offered me a place to stay, and in the morning I hurried back to the hotel to grab my stuff and catch my flight. I'm pretty sure we both woke up with our clothes still on. Most of them anyway. Did I mention we'd both been drinking?"
"With you I always just assume..."
Yang tapped her fingers on the table, wincing slightly. "What do you think the odds are that I slept with Jaune's sister?"
Blake snorted, having expected a conversation like this to take place someday and surprised it had taken so long. "Let's see, you're you and the two of you met at a club that's apparently popular with girls looking to hook up with huntresses, which you just happen to be."
"Yeah, but I already told you wandering in was an accident, and Pyrrha said Saphron's more into nerdy bookworms. I'm like the exact opposite of that, and the past thirty-six hours notwithstanding, I normally don't make it a habit of sleeping with people just because they bought me a drink. And if you hadn't noticed, all of my stories involve huntsmen in-training, not CCT receptionists..."
Her partner sighed. "Don't let this go to your head, but I think just being Yang Xiao Long makes you an exception to a lot of people. Saphron's apparently into huntresses, you slept in her bedroom, and hunts-man or not, you're you. What do you think happened!?"
Yang shrugged. "I dunno. We both looked pretty wasted, and if you don't remember it happening then it didn't happen, right?"
Blake shook her head but found herself chuckling over how very different their lives were. Yang gave her a not-so-gentle nudge to try and get her to quit laughing. "Alcohol was involved, get off me."
"Probably not the first time you've said that," Blake said before erupting in a fit of laughter.
Across the table, the other team was staring at Yang with everyone but Jaune grinning at the blonde who had yet to master her indoor voice even when trying to whisper. Yang brushed her hair back already moving on with her life despite recent developments, and found Weiss staring at her incredulously while Ruby merely frowned at her.
The sisters' eyes met but Yang quickly looked away when she felt Ruby peering through her aura. "I need a drink..." she muttered before putting away her scroll.
Grumbling under her breath while her stomach grumbled back at her, Yang retrieved one of the few clean bowls remaining on the table and reached for the box of Pumpkin Pete's cereal only to find that Ruby already had a hand on it, as well as an empty bowl in front of her.
"Rubes," she growled, "you've had like twelve bowls already. The last one's mine."
"You could've had a bowl whenever you wanted!" Ruby snapped, catching everyone by surprise. "Just get up and get another box!"
Yang was taken aback but only for a moment, and smiled a condescending smirk that only an older sibling truly knew how to pull off effectively. "I don't want another box. I want this one, and I want the prize at the bottom. And there's not a single thing you can do to stop me."
She stuck out her tongue and effortlessly ripped the box out of Ruby's grasp, nearly dragging her across the table as she did. On the other side of Weiss, Pyrrha watched on normally enjoying the game of tug-of-war the sisters played most mornings over the last bowl of Pumpkin Pete's cereal and its accompanying prize at the bottom, but Ruby's usual childish petulance more resembled actual anger today, an emotion Pyrrha hadn't known the caped-girl to actually be capable of. The others seemed to sense it as well, with Weiss and Blake catching each other's eye before looking warily at their partners, nervous as though a bomb might suddenly go off if they weren't careful.
Physical altercations between the sisters weren't uncommon, in fact they were to be expected, but despite the fights often resembling something akin to attempted murder, Ruby and Yang were rarely if ever actually angry with one another, or remained that way for long. Just like the rest of the girls, after a few punches and the occasional gunshots they'd return to being best friends, just with more bruises and smelling like dust residue. As usual it was Yang instigating the inevitable confrontation, but for the first time everyone at the table saw the resemblance between the half-sisters, and half-expected Ruby's eyes to turn red.
Yang hummed a soft tune as she poured her breakfast and acted with faux surprise when a small toy landed in her bowl. "Look, Rubes! It's Gizmoquack! Isn't he the last DSNY character you need for your collection? Too bad I've already got four. Maybe Zwei will want it."
She stuffed the robotic duck riding a unicycle into her ammo belt before pouring cold milk from a nearby container. Across the table Ruby leaned forward. "Do you want me to tell everyone what really happened between you and Henry Marigold?" she said evenly. "Or to that boy back home on the couch in the living room?"
"Come on, Sis," Yang pleaded with her mouth full, grinning at the poorly thought out threat. "Let me have my fun. If I told the girls how things ended prematurely with Henry, the story wouldn't be much of a story and it wouldn't have a happy ending. And yes, it's been a recurring problem in my love life. You happy now?"
The table erupted in laughter, and Weiss grinned ear to ear having never liked Henry Marigold, and having occasionally shuddered during the story when she remembered who Yang had been in bed with.
Everyone was laughing, everyone but Ruby that is...
"I want you to tell me the truth about Mom," she said, causing all laughter to cease and for the spoon to nearly fall out of Yang's hand.
The sisters studied one another with their partners holding their breath. Finally Yang pushed the bowl of cereal away and glanced at JNPR who looked as though they were politely about to excuse themselves when Yang motioned for them to stay.
"Rubes," she said in a grievous tone, "I don't know how else to tell you this, but the truth is..." she took a deep breath and swallowed before meeting her eyes. "The truth is that when Summer gave birth to you, it was on the side of a highway. That's where most accidents happen."
A few gasps escaped from their audience's gaping mouths as they waited for Ruby's apocalyptical reaction, but all she did was narrow her eyes as though having expected a similar retort and by her reaction having heard this particularly one before.
"Anything else I should know?"
Yang nodded. "Lots actually. And the real reason you don't live in hicksville anymore is because your kinfolk said 'Rubes move away from there'. I've got more if you wanna hear them."
Shaking her head, Ruby leaned forward to catch sight of JNPR when her sister returned to shoveling cereal in her mouth with renewed vigor, her eyes not looking up from her bowl. "Jaune," she said, the boy also leaning forward. "Y'all are signed up for a training room later today, right? Would you mind if we borrowed it for a little while? It won't be for long, and you can even come watch if you'd like."
Everyone but Yang exchanged nervous glances with each other. "S-sure, I guess?" he looked to Pyrrha for assistance or perhaps an explanation but she merely shrugged.
With the answer she wanted Ruby got to her feet but Weiss grabbed her by the sleeve. "Ruby," she said. "What are you doing?"
Calmly, Ruby removed her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze despite burning a hole straight through Yang. "Proving that I don't need my big sis protecting me anymore..."
After finishing the rest of their breakfast in complete silence, both teams headed down to the training hall with Ruby in the lead and Yang bringing up the rear. Both teams entered their respective dressing rooms but JNPR were already outfitted in their huntsmen gear and heading toward their requested combat room by the time either of the sisters had gotten half-dressed.
Ruby was still struggling to lift her arms over her head and bending down to touch her toes, but she had refused her partner's help when it had been offered and had made sure her teammates all got a good look at her fading scars. Blake had been surprised but glad to see they had faded since the morning after Yang's birthday, not knowing that rivers of blood had flowed from them just a few days prior. Weiss nearly cried seeing the soft and supple skin, but Yang had refused to turn around after catching just a glimpse of them.
Ruby had even turned around to face her sister while getting dressed, ignoring her own sense of modesty, demanding that Yang look at her, but she hadn't allowed her eyes to wander even for a moment.
Neither of these uncharacteristic oddities went unnoticed by their partners who had followed them with the sole purpose of talking them out of having a match. Yang hadn't needed much convincing, but Ruby as team leader had put her foot down stating that she and her sister were going to fight, and that Yang's participation wasn't exactly required.
True to her nature Yang decided to play along and see where it led, and shrugged whenever Weiss or Blake would look to her to put a stop to Ruby's irrational behavior. The pair had stopped trying by the time Ruby had her heavy ammo belt secured, and politely excused themselves hoping that perhaps the sisters could still settle this without violence if given privacy.
Without the teammates' nagging the dressing room was eerily quiet considering Ruby's penchant for rambling and Yang preference for going through life with nonstop commentary. Hearing her sister removing magazines from her locker Yang winced but didn't turn around. "I'm sorry..."
When Ruby didn't immediately respond Yang began to wonder if she'd spoken too quietly when an equally as hoarse voice spoke up behind her.
"Sorry for what?" she asked in a sharp tone reminiscent of her partner's.
"For... everything..." Yang wiped her eyes and focused on loading her gauntlets with the lowest grade of ammunition she owned despite having no intention of taking them off safety.
"Anything else you'd like to say?"
When several moments passed without a response, Ruby huffed and after one last maintenance check on Crescent Rose, stormed out of the dressing room slamming the door behind her, a cloud of roses following in her wake.
Alone with no one there to see her cry, Yang sat on the bench and did exactly that. Seeing her baby sister finally starting to recover after everything she'd been through made her happier beyond words, and was even willing to let what happened between her and Penny remain a secret if it meant everything returning to the way it was supposed to be.
Her sister's cold shoulder felt like a knife in her chest but Yang knew she more than deserved it. A part of her even encouraged it and was looking forward to their match as she was far more angry with herself than Ruby ever thought of being. Far too many times Yang had failed to protect her baby sister, and broken too many promises in doing so.
"I always needed you more than you needed me," she sniffled, slamming her head against a locker until blood trickled down her brow.
When Ruby entered the training room her hood was already covering her face, essentially blocking out the outside world and not permitting anyone to see what lay hidden underneath. On the battlefield she stood with her back facing the door and began loosening her stiff limbs and muscles.
To her right, the spectators sat in two rows of bleachers, either quietly discussing amongst themselves what had caused Ruby's unusual behavior or silently staring at the girl who just a few days prior hadn't been able to walk across the room without aid. Minutes passed by with Yang giving her sister plenty of time to prepare, so much so that the conversation shifted multiple times, with members of Team JNPR expressing their concern over what had transpired in a training room just a week prior.
Blake didn't look to see if any eyes had fallen on her, but she certainly felt gazes piercing her back even if they were just from her own shadow. Despite yet another miraculous recovery from her leader, she still couldn't quite shake the guilt she felt, or the nagging suspicion that the accident wasn't her fault. Unfortunately the second voice sounded suspiciously like the voice that once helped her sleep at night during her time with the White Fang and still occasionally reassured her she hadn't done anything wrong.
She felt like a walking contradiction, and a part of her couldn't help but wonder if it had to do with having an unruly shadow, sharing a soul with someone her exact opposite, or if after all this time Adam's influence was still at work.
'Did you hear what that lunatic did to that huntress in Southern Vale?' Mercury's words echoed. 'And you call me a butcher...'
Blake shuddered. Just a month ago the majority of Vale's populace hadn't even known of Sienna Khan, the upstart leader of the White Fang, or of Adam Taurus, the cell leader thought to be responsible for the attack on The City of Vale. She'd hoped that after their mission in Forever Fall he might've returned to Anima where they had first established themselves, but it was clear that rather than just targeting SDC shipping routes, for reasons Blake still couldn't fathom Vale was now the White Fang's priority.
The Kingdom of Vale had always been good to her people, or at least better than Atlas and Mistral, and more supportive to their cause than Vacuo where citizens largely fended for themselves. Even if Blake had run away due to the methods and growing extremes of the White Fang, the root of violence had always been over inequality and injustice, no matter how misguided. Or so she thought...
Innocent people had certainly been caught in the crossfire from time to time, casualties of war Blake had told herself, and those who willingly looked the other way to faunus persecution had been dealt with just like those who actively participated. Blake wasn't proud of the things she had done or been a part of, but even the most revolutionary of faunus had still held the huntsmen in the highest regard, and preferred avoiding confrontation with them when they could.
Even if they were contracted by the SDC or Atlas' military, a registered huntsman made the world a safer place simply by breathing in it, and whenever there was a shortage of huntsmen it was always the people living in the territories or the bottom of society most negatively affected. The attack on The City of Vale and its effect on its poorer districts was proof enough.
By killing a huntress, Adam had made his name known to the entire world, but especially the huntsmen community which saw each other as family no matter how estranged. Destroying SDC or military property was one thing, but killing a huntsman was like signing your own death warrant.
It made Blake want to cry thinking back to them playing with wooden swords when they were children, pretending that they were huntsmen working for the betterment of faunus-kind rather than large sums of money. Before joining the White Fang they'd both had the opportunity of joining a combat school in Anima, and perhaps if she had listened to him they would've become huntsmen together...
She shook her head trying to shake the thoughts out of her mind. Her aura was difficult to read by nature so it wasn't any surprise that JNPR hadn't picked up on her dark thoughts, but Weiss had given her a sideways glance and laid her hand atop her own. Even if they'd been alone Weiss likely wouldn't have asked for an explanation. Blake rarely gave them anyway, and neither of them talked much about what was troubling them unless Ruby or Yang were in the room and they were the ones that asked. It was a truce between bitter enemies and newfound, friends, and neither wanted to do anything to jeopardize their already tumultuous relationship.
She took a deep breath and allowed the cool, calculative aura to overtake her own for however briefly. She thought back to her spying on Mercury and Emerald, as well as Team ABRN, six of the seven suspects that could've caused Ruby's accident in the training room and her nightmarish hallucination thereafter. She had even followed Lolita Gothic to The Arcadia just to be safe but learned little about her other than her and Ruby had similar tastes in corsets.
Nothing discussed by Team ABRN had interested her much, other than their impressive training regimen, but Mercury and Emerald's conversation troubled her. Blake was naturally leery of strangers, and it had taken weeks if not months for her to fully trust her roommates not to eat her anchovy pizza, much less trust them with her secret or her life, but something about the partners made her uneasy. Ruby seemed to like them, as well as Weiss and Yang, all of whom Blake trusted as better judges of character than herself, but there was still something about them she didn't like.
Mercury's comments about faunus had rubbed her the wrong way, though she could understand how a human raised in Anima could harbor resentment toward her kind. It wasn't all that different from a faunus being raised in Atlas. Calling Adam a butcher hadn't helped matters, but it had also sounded like they'd been discussing Ruby when she first arrived under their bedroom window. Underclassmen girls who had broken their arms as kids and had a history of injuring their feet admittedly could've been almost anyone, even herself, but the comment about someone cheating on their IQ test had given her deja vu from when Weiss learned what Ruby's score had been.
It had sounded as though they were discussing the Vytal Festival Tournament, which seemed likely due to it being the biggest topic of discussion around campus. Mercury Black was said to have the highest combat rating at Haven Academy, discounting seniors of course, and getting to the finals likely meant going through one of Beacon's top ranked freshman teams at some point.
Discussing the likelihood of either Coco or Velvet moving to the singles round instead of Yatsuhashi confused her however. It was widely accepted that he was the top student at Beacon Academy, seniors included, with only the previous Vytal Festival winner ever having defeated him. Perhaps they had merely been speculating who he might team with in the doubles round? Blake wasn't sure, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right.
Ruby running into Emerald during their walk around the courtyard as innocuous as it had been had come to mind recently. As oblivious as Ruby could be she didn't make it a habit of running into people she was talking to. Even stranger was her insistence that she thought Emerald had been standing elsewhere, reminding Blake of how both she and Ruby thought the other had been swinging their weapons at different angles than they had actually been.
Nobody from either team had illusionary or mind manipulative semblances however, not even Lolita's deceased partner. Professor Goodwitch when giving her report to the team had insisted their innocence, and the matter of Ruby's accidents were officially ruled exactly that, accidents.
Blake hadn't shared the details of her own investigation with her teammates, mainly due to not having discovered anything worthwhile, and because she didn't want them knowing she had been spying on other teams even if for a good cause. She wasn't proud of what she had done, and if she'd been caught her team would've likely been disqualified for the tournament. They had enough hanging over their heads already without worrying about her misdeeds.
As she sulked, Weiss sat beside her trying to read from her codex after getting bored of JNPR's conversation and watching Ruby stretch, as well as waiting for Yang to make her grand entrance. The self-proclaimed heart of Team RWBY had a tendency to do things in her own time without regard for how long she made other's wait, and Weiss half-expected that she had ditched them in favor of having an afternoon cocktail on the bad side of town. It certainly wouldn't have been the first time...
Reading from the old tome was proving to be difficult however, and often required her full concentration just to make sense of a single sentence. Not only was the language ancient, but much of what she read had been written over a millennia ago, meaning the diction wasn't exactly something she was accustomed to reading. The subject matter was also contradictory in nature, with each of the four kingdoms having their own particular version of 'The Tale of Four Maidens', with each subsequent revision changing the original story just enough to be noteworthy.
Weiss of course had started from the beginning with the four princesses prior to them becoming queens of their respective kingdoms. Nothing she'd read from the historical accounts had been particularly insightful seeing how world history was one of her better subjects and complimented her family's own rich history. She'd already known the future queens were where the modern day words for winter, spring, autumn, and summer came from, with Winter being a particularly popular name in her family, but once she stepped into the realm of fairy tales Weiss began struggling to separate fact from fiction.
The oldest account of the fairy tale dated back roughly twelve hundred years, but it hadn't taken long for it to be spread throughout the world, no doubt due to it being unified by one ruling family. She knew there had to be truth to the tale but she also knew better than to believe in something as absurd as a wizard giving four teenage girls the ability to use magic, and for said magic to find a new host whenever the previous host died.
It was ridiculous, and yet she had seen the fear in her sister's eyes at the mere mention of the story on an unsecure line. The most likely explanation was that the so-called 'wizard' had merely been an incredibly powerful aura manipulator and had unlocked each of the girls' auras, perhaps even temporarily enhancing them if he'd had such a semblance. If he'd been learned in the ancient ways perhaps he had even used a technique lost to time, though Weiss had difficulty believing such a glyph could exist without her knowing.
Anything in the world worth knowing was in her family's archives, and such a technique or glyph not being there meant it simply didn't exist.
As for magic, Weiss' usage of the ancient language to create glyphs while magical in appearance was more akin to computer coding, with the world and all living things being the computer. To a simpleton even electricity could seem magical, but in the hands of a Schnee it could be used to create impressive thunderstorms or holographic devices that no person on Remnant today could live without.
Hearing words echo in the back of her mind, Weiss closed her eyes and listened to the quickly fading voice of a woman she had never met but heard in the ear of a little girl floating above the clouds.
'...Calavera, daughter of life and death, successor of rebirth and regeneration...'
Weiss knew the name almost as well as her own but had difficulty even entertaining the implication. Although a recent fan of the DSNY films, she didn't believe that 'The Transient Princess' or 'The Fallen Queen' were anything more than mere fiction, likely created by people who wished they had even a drop of noble blood in them.
She didn't even believe the original fairy tales to be events prophesied by the last queens of Vacuo and Vale prior to their public executions, one out of forgiveness and the other out of spite. At least she hadn't believed them until she and Ruby's soul dive...
According to Yang, whose reputation for the truth was dubious at best, Summer Rose hadn't been her stepmother's real name, and she had walked from the badlands of Vacuo all the way to Vale just as the prophecy foretold that The Transient Princess someday would.
As for Summer bringing Ruby back to life, Weiss had no explanation. It hadn't been a semblance or aura mastery that brought her best friend and partner back to life, but rather something Weiss had only heard about in hushed whispers in her family. A word of command...
If royalty indeed sat on the throne by divine right, then a word of command was a king or queen exercising that power to influence fate. 'Bargaining with God' as it was sometimes called after a newly crowned king supposedly bargained with The Creator to not destroy a heretic city until after his estranged family had fled to safety.
It was the only logical explanation Weiss could come up with, but she was afraid to share her findings with Ruby. Not just because her shame of what her family had taken part in two centuries prior, but also because what might happen if her secret ever became public. Her name would be known all the way from the mountains of Atlas to the lowlands of Menagerie, and Ruby's entire life along with her mother's would be detailed in films, books, and even stage plays for generations to come. She would never know peace for as long as she lived, which for Ruby might very well have been her worst nightmare. Worse than that however was that old forgotten enemies would rear their ugly heads once again afraid of the Calaveras returning and looking for revenge, which included members of Weiss' own family.
Her other reason for not sharing what Ruby rightfully should know was that it simply wasn't her place to tell her. Yang knew, and their family had their reasons for keeping secrets from Ruby even if it did leave her frustrated at times, and Weiss angry by proxy.
Despite her scars fading and stating that she felt better than she had in weeks, Ruby had been uncharacteristically quiet since their randevu aboard The Arcadia, and also moody whenever Yang was in the room. The partners had spoken on their way back to the dorm but Ruby had been infuriatingly silent about her and Penny's latest aura transfer, other than to say her mother's aura had been returned to her. She hadn't asked for space but Weiss had given it to her as having another voice in your head often made it difficult hearing your own, and Weiss wasn't exactly sure just how many voices Ruby might've had in her head at the moment.
As far as Weiss knew, this had been Ruby and Penny's second, possibly third aura transfer, but such a feat should've been impossible given that they weren't aura matches and Penny according to Polaris' records was almost as ignorant about aura manipulation as Ruby. While aboard The Arcadia, Weiss had used her influence to download everything she could pertaining to the peculiar girl, but besides a jaw dropping combat rating nothing of value had stood out to her. She had even gone so far as to research Penny's family to see if there were any possible relations between her and Ruby besides their excitable and eccentric personalities, but either someone had covered their tracks well or Weiss was missing a crucial part of the puzzle.
Whether her curiosity was actually her own or Ruby's leftover from their soul dive Weiss couldn't be sure, but despite feeling guilty for going behind her partner's back, Weiss felt she deserved to know the truth. Ruby's business was now her own, and vice versa, but they were both hesitant to perform another soul dive. For Ruby's part, Weiss guessed that she was still wanting to protect Penny's secret, and Weiss was still afraid of sharing certain aspects of herself, especially if there was a chance of more soul dives between Ruby and Penny...
Teasing or not, Yang had been right to call her jealous. Despite her partner experiencing yet another miracle, Weiss still didn't particularly like Penny, or her father for that matter, and didn't trust either of them. Still, the next time she saw Penny, she'd be obligated to thank her for saving Ruby's life. A fact that made Weiss feel sick to her stomach.
"You alright?" asked a kindly voice beside her.
Weiss' head shot up and she looked up at Jaune whose eyebrows were knitted in concern, and realized she'd been massaging her left eye again while muttering to herself.
"I'm fine," she said sharply, hoping he'd get the message to leave her alone or else risk bodily harm.
Unfortunately Jaune had never been quick to pick up subtle cues warning when his life was in danger, and despite having seven sisters he had never quite understood the complexities of the opposite sex. "Whatcha reading?" he asked, pointing down at the large book. "It hurts my eyes just looking at it."
Weiss slammed the tome shut, and rather than give an elaborate explanation that he couldn't possibly hope to understand, she told him that she was merely researching an obscure king of glyph, which was partially true due to Yang having asked her to look up Conjuring glyphs and their relation to Grimm.
"What kind of glyph?" Pyrrha asked, causing the heiress to become momentarily tongue tied.
"Verbal component glyphs," she lied, raising her chin proudly when she received puzzled looks. "Normally to create a glyph I point two fingers and extend my thumb, then flick my wrist as a physical component much like how Professor Goodwitch flicks her riding crop. It isn't necessary but helps better coordinate the body and mind. The runes surrounding a glyph are created in my mind, but glyph practitioners can also speak them into existence if they so wish. It's much slower and hardly efficient however, and the only person I know who has any real talent for verbal glyphs is a distant cousin of mine named Piper Marigold."
Pyrrha nodded having likely heard the name around Sanctum Academy from time to time.
"I don't know if I've ever heard someone speak the ancient language before," Jaune said earnestly. "What's it sound like?"
Annoyed at being put on the spot and looked at like a circus performer, Weiss took a deep breath and began speaking in a sing-song voice that rang like heavenly chimes in their ears. Nobody in the audience could understand the words or even catch their syllables but they seemed to understand their meaning, and in front of them appeared several white glyphs blowing cold air onto them.
"Wow," was all anyone could say before clapping. Weiss bowed visibly pleased with herself and their reaction at such a simple feat, particularly Pyrrha's. Thankfully the topic of glyphs were beyond any of their expertise, or in Jaune's case comprehension, and they didn't have time to ask anymore questions as it was only a moment later when the double doors leading into the training room were thrown open by a figure bathed in sunlight.
Everyone jumped except Ruby who still had her back to the doors. "It's about time!" Weiss shouted, stuffing the tome into her backpack beside the emergency medical supplies.
Yang ignored her and the silent over the shoulder glare of her sister, and after making sure the doors had been properly shut and locked behind her, she took her position across from Ruby and began going through the motions of stretching.
A halo of sunlight surrounded her, brimming with confidence that filled even the spectators with doubts within themselves, all except Pyrrha Nikos that is. When fully activated, a huntsman's aura could be used as a passive weapon against their opponent, and nobody weaponized their aura quite like Yang Xiao Long.
Supreme confidence radiated off of her just like the sunshine and intense heat that made her difficult to see and robbed her opponents of their strength like a high fever. Hidden beyond the veil of beauty was violence incarnate, the ultimate intimidation factor that often won fights before the first punch was even thrown.
If Ruby was intimidated however she didn't show it, and had stopped stretching in order to watch Yang from underneath her hood, seeing through the bravado and façade she fooled everyone else with.
"Whoa," Jaune said, wiping sweat from his brow before receiving a curious glance from his partner. "I-I mean, it's just been a while since I saw those two go at it. Should be a good match, right?"
Jaune seemed to still think this was still a simple exhibition match but both Weiss and Blake knew better, as did Pyrrha despite thinking this might've had something to do with sisterly rivalry. Nora on the other hand seemed to be just looking forward to a good fight, possibly pondering how she might be able to be a part of it while Ren watched on passively with his arms folded across his chest, patiently waiting to see what happened next.
"Ruby has both speed and reach to her advantage," Jaune continued, smiling as he spoke of his five-foot leader whom he looked up to and greatly admired, "and she probably knows Yang better than anyone. Maybe this will be the time she finally wins." Everyone in the bleachers stopped to stare at him. "W-what?"
"Yang's at full strength while Ruby barely has thirty percent of her aura," Weiss said, pointing at her wrist scroll. "And can you name a single fight where Yang has ever had the speed or reach advantage?"
Jaune held up a finger as he considered but eventually gave a defeated look.
"You've never really seen Yang fight outside of Professor Goodwitch's class have you?" she asked, the boy again looking thoughtful for a moment before shaking his head. "Pyrrha's the only one here she really takes seriously. Against everyone else she's either just showing off or amusing herself, but against us she takes it a little bit easier, especially Ruby. She doesn't want the rest of the class to think less of us, and believe me she could make us all look like amateurs if she really wanted to."
"She's also the only one of us to actually graduate from a combat school," Blake added. "She might like to pretend she's in a bar fight beating people up like they owe her money, but she only gets sloppy when she's bored. Remember that time Goodwitch had six freshmen fight her one after another? I don't think she actually broke her hand in the second match. I think she just wanted to see if she could win them all one handed."
"Entire day is still a blur to me..." Ren said absently.
"Ruby's incredibly gifted for her age," said Pyrrha with an air of authority. "She's been well-trained and possibly has the most devastating weapon in the entire class, but she also relies both on it and her superspeed to hide her shortcomings."
When the girls from the other team looked her way Pyrrha smiled apologetically. "Yang's not the only one here to have graduated top of her class from a reputable combat school. Ruby's aura levels haven't improved much from the beginning of the year and she's missing two years of development and combat training. Her technique is impeccable, but much like Weiss she has to end fights quickly or else risk losing due to usually having a smaller aura pool than her opponent."
On the other side of Jaune, Weiss blushed and stole a glance at her partner who was still studying Yang as if looking for a point of attack.
"Blake, Jaune, you two at the beginning of the year relied more on your natural speed and strength than you did actual training. Raw talent will only get you so far, and once two opponents are equally exhausted it almost always comes down to who has the better training to fall back on. Weiss, I feel no shame telling you that you're the better swordswoman." Weiss' face immediately brightened as did her aura. "But the reason you haven't defeated me yet is because you lack the experience and stamina required to fully take advantage of your better technique."
Pyrrha gestured to the combatants. "Ruby's in a similar situation, except she's also two years younger and hasn't had nearly as much time to hone her skills or her aura. She can't properly fight defensively for example, which is what all huntsmen fall back on when they're inevitably injured or low on aura. If Ruby gets injured in combat against another huntsman or a hoard of Grimm she's only going to last as long as her semblance and ammo does. Yang on the other hand turtles up when she's in trouble, which is arguably when a counter-striker is at their most deadly. And given that she regularly trains against the best swordswoman in the class, a dual wielding cat faunus, and a speed demon with a sniper-scythe, I think it's safe to say that Yang probably has the best reflexes in the entire class."
"Faster than Ruby?" Jaune asked skeptically.
She nodded. "Ruby may be incredibly fast and highly unpredictable, but Yang knows that anticipating any given situation doesn't matter nearly as much as how you react to it. Instincts like hers only come from years of intense training, and she was trained by arguably the deadliest huntsman and best combat instructor on Remnant, Qrow Branwen, who also happens to be Ruby's mentor. She could take turns fighting all of us and fight with the same amount of skill from beginning to end, offense or defense. Just so long as she didn't get bored of course.
With a newfound perspective that could've only come from a four time consecutive champion, the spectators studied the deadly sisters more closely. In truth Pyrrha was disappointed that it wouldn't be for another year or two year that she and Ruby fought on more equal footing, and so set her eyes on the only freshman she considered to be competition for the title of 'The Invincible Girl'.
Pyrrha rubbed her left wrist absently, remembering how she had broken it during Yang's aforementioned round robin challenge blocking punches with her shield. She suspected Yang's hand actually had been broken but like herself too proud to admit it in front of the class or their teammates. Although they were opposites in many ways, they were both warriors at their core. Pyrrha had trained most of her life with the expressed purpose of becoming a world renown champion while Yang admittedly just liked to fight. Her extensive training courtesy of her father and uncle hadn't come so that she'd be top of her class or a champion, but rather so that she'd survive as a huntress.
The difference between them and their mentors wasn't lost on Pyrrha, nor the loss of the girls' mothers having affected how they were trained. Pyrrha was a champion while her rival the ultimate survivor, capable of surviving practically anything.
"I can't wait to fight her in the tournament..." Her teammates glowed with pride as their ace leaned forward anxious for the fight to begin, but Weiss and Blake couldn't help glancing at one another suddenly not liking the idea of someone as astute as Pyrrha watching their leader and their own ace do battle so close to the tournament.
'At least it'll be over quickly,' the pair thought grimly.
When they glanced back at the combatants they saw Yang had stopped with the charade and was now bending over and sticking her tongue out between her legs trying to goad Ruby into shooting her.
"Are both you idiots ready yet!?" Weiss shouted.
Ruby chambered a round and took an offensive position with the barrel of her sniper-scythe pointed behind her while Yang cockily stood up and began shadow boxing on the balls of her feet. "Bring it on you prepubescent squeaker! Let's see if you can even land a hit this time!"
A cloud of rose petals erupted from where Ruby was standing only to reemerge behind Yang. She'd been expecting this however, and despite Ruby's blinding speed, Yang's reflexes were just able to keep up and absorb a series of bone rattling blows with her gauntlets. The strikes came too quickly to mount a counter attack however, and Yang found herself spinning like a whirlwind in an attempt to keep the spinning blade of death from touching her.
She quickly became overwhelmed and flashes of bright aura filled the training room like lightning, and she stumbled forward as her left leg was nearly taken out from underneath her while the spiked end of Crescent Rose hit her in the back of the head. Ruby followed every attack with an even more powerful one, never losing momentum or giving Yang the opportunity to do anything other than defend herself, and putting all that morning's caffeine and sugar to good use.
Blake was the only one who could somewhat keep up with Ruby's movements, and by her estimation it seemed only one in ten blows were finding their mark, which against a normal opponent would've been enough to drain their aura shield or at least topple them over, but not Yang Xiao Long. She might as well have been wearing an impenetrable suit of armor for all the good Crescent Rose was doing.
Normally when striking an opponent with an aura shield, both combatants would be repelled from one another, and in the case of someone like Yang or Pyrrha, their opponents often found themselves off-balance and vulnerable to a counter attack, which just so happened to be their specialty. Ruby moved much too fast for that to happen, but unlike most of her opponents, Yang didn't appear to be slowing nor were her arms fatiguing under the heavy blows of Crescent Rose.
"Yang wants to win this without having to throw a single punch," Weiss said from the sidelines, reading her partner's mind and realizing why Yang's knee kept flashing. Damaging Yang's aura would only make her stronger and her aura shield that much harder to penetrate, and so Ruby was trying to take her legs out from under her instead. Weiss just hoped it didn't come at the cost of Yang's explosive temper and semblance...
It was while thinking her partner clever that the barrage came to a sudden halt with Yang standing with her arm extended and steam rising from where she had caught Crescent Rose by the blade.
"You know what to do, Rubes," Yang teased between breaths, her eyes having the slightest hint of red to them. "Say that I'm the best big sister in the world, that I'm Uncle Qrow's favorite, and that I'm better than you at everything in every way but especially video games or else I'll-"
She never got the chance to finish her sentence as Crescent Rose's blade bent at a previously impossible angle, slingshotting Ruby's boot into Yang's midsection. Her sister barely reacted to the high velocity kick attempting to knock the wind out of her, but while fighting to maintain her grip she suddenly found herself staring down the barrel of possibly the deadliest weapon at Beacon Academy.
"Rubes," she warned, "I wouldn't do that if I were-"
Ruby didn't hesitate pulling the trigger, and what followed sounded as though a cannon had gone off as she was propelled through the air twenty yards or more while Yang disappeared in an inferno.
Weiss rose to her feet while everyone else covered their mouths in disbelief. "Ruby!" she shouted. "What are you doing!?"
Her partner landed graciously back on her starting position, already whirling around and preparing her weapon for a counter attack from within the cloud of smoke and dust. There was no question that the explosive round had been the highest grade of orange dust, something not normally permitted during exhibition matches.
At point blank range, Crescent Rose was capable of sending students with compromised aura shields to the infirmary with even non-lethal rounds, but as the smoke cleared and dust settled, Yang stood upright, gritting her teeth and glaring with crimson eyes back at her opponent.
"Alright, Sis. Congratulations. You have my attention. What now?" Her aura shield shimmered and small flames licked around where she'd been shot in the chest, and after massaging the sensitive spot she zipped up her aura saturated vest for better protection and began the important task of dusting herself off.
On the sidelines everyone held their breath, not the least bit surprised to see Yang still standing, but that she had been able to restrain herself from immediately ripping her sister's head off. At the beginning of the year, Cardin had made the mistake of sneaking an orange dust crystal onto the end of his mace during a match with Yang, and after engulfing her and half the classroom in flames, she had tried shoving the weapon down his throat and would have if not for Professor Goodwitch's swift intervention.
"That all you got?" Yang taunted, barely winded while her younger sister gasped for air. "I've barely even broken a sweat."
Ruby responded by chambering another round and pulling the trigger. Not even she was faster than a speeding bullet, but Yang like all huntsmen in-training were expected to be faster than the finger pulling the trigger, and also to instinctively know the trajectory of the bullet and be able to react accordingly.
Having graduated top of her class from a combat school, Yang was able to do so effortlessly, but upon each round's contact with her gauntlets she was engulfed in inferno after inferno, and blinded she had to act purely on instinct and protect the most vulnerable areas of her body.
After nine rounds had been expended Ruby allowed the empty magazine to hit the ground before loading another of the same caliber and grade. With a wave of her hands Yang cleared away the smoke and debris in the air, her own flames now hotter and brighter than the orange explosions previously engulfing her.
"Big mistake..." she growled, her pupils becoming lost in a sea of crimson. "You proved your point, Rubes. Quit while you're ahead and before I do something that we'll both regret."
Looking down at the ground Ruby slowly raised her head, and to the shock and amazement of everyone sitting in the stands, Ruby removed her hood for the first time ever during a match. Rather than the impassive young girl who fought like an uncaring machine and extension of the fearsome weapon she wielded, tears had welled up in Ruby's eyes and were currently streaming down her cheeks.
Once again she responded to her sister by chambering her rifle and pointing the blade behind her, readying for another assault.
Yang hesitated, her eyes clearing up momentarily before flicking the safety off her gauntlets. "Your funeral," she muttered.
"BOTH OF YOU CUT IT OUT!" Weiss ran out onto the battlefield only for multiple hands to grab her. "LET GO OF ME!"
Ruby pulled the trigger propelling herself forward, but before the two could collide she disappeared into another cloud of rose petals. Yang turned raising her gauntlets and was knocked backward, her left knee nearly buckling. Sparks flew all around as she struggled to keep up with her sister's blinding speed, her aura occasionally flashing when she couldn't.
To the spectators' shock Yang was knocked off her feet courtesy of the spiked end of Crescent Rose striking her in the back of her bad knee. On the ground she covered up as Ruby kicked, stomped, slashed, and stabbed her sister, but within moments Yang had fought back to her feet and once again grabbed ahold of Crescent Rose's blade.
Just as before the blade bent forward and Ruby fired straight into her sister's chest, engulfing them both in flames and pulling the trigger until she heard click.
Through the fire and debris a fist flew out and connected with Ruby's chest, followed by a shotgun blast and a cloud of yellow dust.
Ruby sailed across the room hitting her head against the back wall. On the ground she crumbled into a ball struggling to breathe, and could only watch in horror as Yang tossed her beloved sniper-scythe into the air, embedding its long blade into the ceiling high above.
"You're lucky I didn't break it in half," Yang said, her aura distorting Ruby's vision like a highway on a hot summer's day.
Her sister was slow to get back to her feet despite using the wall for support, and dropped to her knees when they inevitably gave out from under her. She rubbed her chest grimacing, electricity nipping at her fingers until she lost feeling in them as well. If her sister had punched her at even half-strength her chest would've been caved in, and absently she wondered if Yang had avoided her stomach on purpose or was just repaying the favor.
"ENOUGH!" Weiss cried, blasting her restraints away with a wintry flurry before running onto the battlefield. "Both of you cut it out right now! Ruby's almost out of aura and she lost her weapon! It's over!"
The sisters ignored her, and finally taking her eyes off Crescent Rose, Ruby's gaze fell to Yang who was giving her a hard look that all interpreted as both an apology and warning to stay down.
Just when it looked as though she might signal forfeit, Ruby disappeared in another cloud of rose petals flying over Yang's head aiming for her sniper-scythe. She dodged midair as several explosive rounds came within inches of hitting her, and she fell back to the ground weaponless. Several gravity glyphs surrounded her courtesy of Weiss, but Ruby navigated around them and reappeared behind her sister, kicking the back of her legs and digging her elbows into her sides while just barely dodging Yang's debilitating blows in time.
When it came to hand to hand combat, Ruby was more accomplished than her feats often made her seem. She'd been trained personally by both her sister and father, and had been Yang's practice dummy since she could remember. If only out of self-preservation she had learned how to properly fight, but she didn't have anywhere near the strength of most unarmed specialists, nor the aura shield required to take such punishment.
It was difficult if not impossible for the bystanders to follow Ruby's movements, and all they saw was a fiery kick followed by Ruby reappearing ten yards away flat on her back. Yang stumbled for a moment before allowing her aura to extinguish while Ruby lay on the ground helplessly gasping for air.
Weiss ran forward falling beside her partner while Yang stumbled toward them. "Not bad," she rasped, "but if you're gonna throw a head kick you better make sure you're the one with longer legs."
Without asking for her permission Yang raised Ruby to her feet, holding onto her so that her legs didn't buckle. She hugged her tight and Ruby reciprocated, but after being released she took a step back giving Weiss only a passing glance before rose petals filled the air more and Crescent Rose disappeared from atop the ceiling.
"Ruby, no!" Weiss called out, reaching out as the doors flew open and her partner disappeared...
(A/N: Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. The goal of the first half of this chapter was to lighten the mood a bit after a series of emotionally draining chapters, and also for Ruby's annoyance with Yang to simmer until the inevitable fight over a cereal box's prize, which was just the excuse Ruby was looking for. Ruby versus Yang has been something I've wanted to write for a very long time, but despite finally getting the opportunity it wasn't much of a fight due to Ruby still recovering and Yang going easy on her. Ruby's still a force to be reckoned with however, and with five chapters and an epilogue remaining I think there's still time to show off just how dangerous our hero can be ;)
I came up with the idea of Yang having gone home with one of Jaune's sisters during her "vacation" back in 2016 or 2017, a year or two before Saphron was introduced to the show. I wanted to keep this story element even after her introduction, but obviously it comes at the cost of Terra and their son Adrian, though obviously you can headcanon their relationship having started later in this story than it did in canon. Whatever happened between Yang and Saphron is entirely up for you to decide. It was just a humorous wrinkle that popped in my head that felt in character for her, and I could see either scenario happening in all honesty.
With only a few chapters remaining you may have noticed that storylines and character arcs are beginning to wrap up, and also that the climax of the story (Chapter 40) is quickly approaching. Perhaps you've already sensed that trend since Ruby and Penny's reunion, but I promise there's still much more to come. Thank you, friends for being with me on this incredible six year journey. I hope it's been worth it, and I hope you enjoy what's still to come.
All credit goes to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who has blessed me with this story and with all of you wonderful readers. God bless)
