"Do not fall."
The simple warning bestowed upon them by Ambrosius.
The one thing that her team—that she—had failed to account for.
When she saw those mismatched eyes, she knew she had to act quickly. Her teeth gritted as her fire charged through her, that familiar burning rage that formed her Semblance. Golden locks burned like the sun. Her eyes, now a fierce crimson, flashed a familiar sight.
"Get away from her!"
Not again.
Never again.
"Are you faster than you were at Beacon?"
Pulling herself back, she cocked Ember Celica in preparation to launch toward her sister. Two simultaneous gunshots rang out. Like a shooting star, she flew across the dark to intercept the enemy's blade.
SHING!
She was flying again, but it was different this time. Fragments of her shattered Aura scattered around her. In her peripheral, she could see Ruby, safe. That was something, at least.
Her body hit the edge of the platform. For one final time, she felt herself rise. She could see her whole team now. Ruby rose her head off the floor, silver eyes glowing in both fear and disbelief. Weiss had turned around and reached out, calling her name even though now all she could hear was her own heartbeat. Her assailant, Neopolitan, merely glared at her for getting in the way.
Then there was Blake. The sound of her partner's footsteps rushed toward her as she plummeted over the edge. Blake called her name one—still muffled beneath her own heart—as she threw out Gambol Shroud.
The broken blade, reforged in gold—in a promise—raced toward her. If she could focus for one second, she could grab it and be pulled back up.
But her body would not respond, and the blade did not reach. Her eyes widened as she witnessed her partner's tears. This would be one promise she couldn't keep.
She passed by the dozens of Atlesian and Mantleese refugees—all mixed up now, with little to differentiate one from the other—passing through the portals and platforms. They had succeeded; their job was nearly done. If her team could keep Cinder and Neo at bay, they'll have accomplished their goal.
That was all that mattered, wasn't it? Saving everyone else?
"We're protecting each other."
No, she realized. Not this time.
She hit the edge of Ambrosius's creation. Her body burned into golden embers, disintegrating before her very eyes, flesh and metal melting all the same.
She stole one last glance at her partner. There was so much she wanted from her. So much she wished to do with her, so much she wished to say to her—Oh, she knows already.
And with one final flicker of the dying embers, Yang Xiao Long was gone from this world.
"Yang!"
Just a quick one-shot I've had basically since V8 E13 premiered for First Members. I honestly could not get over this moment for the entire week, and I was waiting to see how the show would resolve it (if it resolved it) in the finale.
Good thing nothing bad happened in the volume's finale, because if anything did happen, it would've devastated me. Good thing nothing bad ended up happening then. Nope. Nothing bad happened. Nothing. Nothing bad. Happened. In the finale. NOTHI—
Anyways, thank you all so much for reading. I'm hoping to get into more RWBY content during the current hiatus, and will possibly be coming out with much larger RWBY stories soon. Until then, please be sure to favorite and review, and I'll see you all next time!