Author's note: Now it's time for Yang to get some attention. Also, be ready for some new ideas on how her semblance works. I misremembered some minor things about it, but since the overall function is still the same, I chose not to change anything.
Also, a few new things, including a headcanon that kind of died in V5, but was brought back after some tweaks.
Yang and Taiyang Xiao Long were standing in the kitchen of their house, with Doctor Oobleck and Professor Port sitting at a table. The teachers had come to see how Yang was doing, and she had come downstairs after hearing the noise from their conversation.
"He's afraid of mice," Doctor Oobleck whispered.
"They bring only disease and famine!" Professor Port yelled and leaned back in his chair until he fell over backwards. He laid on the floor for a moment, then the entire room burst out laughing. He got back up, sat down in his chair and was about to continue his explanation why mice were awful, when Zwei came into the room, braking at the teacher.
"Zwei, what's gotten into you?" Yang asked and said, "Sorry, he's normally not like that." She picked the corgi up and carried him out of the room, setting him down in his bed.
"I think he sensed something," Doctor Oobleck said after Yang returned.
"Really?" Yang asked.
"Yes," Doctor Oobleck answered, "Remember how I told you that a canine's senses are much more finely honed than a human's? Maybe he picked up on something that we can't sense."
"You mean like a ghost?" Yang asked.
"Let's hope it's just that," Professor Port said.
"What do you mean?" Yang asked. Taiyang sighed.
"Talia Star," he said.
"Don't say that name!" Professor Port shouted.
"Come on, it's not like that's going to summon her like she's a demon or something," Yang said.
"Except, almost every time you say her name, she shows up," Professor Port said, "And I really don't think having her here would be a good idea."
"Wait… don't tell me she's a mouse faunus and you're scared of her," Yang said.
"Well, she is a faunus, and I may be uncomfortable when she flaunts her tail," Professor Port said, "But -"
"No buts!" Yang said and slammed her left hand on the table, "The faunus have enough trouble as it is, and you, as her teacher, were supposed to make school easier for her, not harder! I'll say her name until she pops in here, and you're going to apologize to her!"
"Yang, I get where you're coming from," Taiyang said, "But Talia is crazy. Having her around, in any situation, will make the situation worse for everyone. She has no respect for authority, and is far too strong to hold responsible for her actions. She's driven entire companies to ruin for fun, and never faced repercussions for it. She's not the kind of person to have a hard time, she makes everyone else's time difficult just by being around."
"Is it that bad?" Yang asked, calming down again.
"It is," Taiyang answered, "She never had much trouble with bullies or anything. It was just Port who openly disliked her."
"I just asked her not to flaunt her tail around all the time," Professor Port said, trying to defend himself.
"Did you try to explain yourself to her?" Yang asked.
"Well, no," Port answered.
"That's the problem," Yang said, "She probably thought that you, an authority figure, were racist towards faunus." She leaned against the overhead cupboards and gave the teacher a stern look.
"See, was that so difficult to figure out?" a young female voice asked from inside the cupboard. Yang jumped away from the cupboard and turned around, only to see a girl drop out of the door. She made a handstand on the counter top, spun around and sat down on it. The girl wore a dark gray stealth suit with elbow-long sleeves and a lot of pockets, which had golden zippers, and dark gray boots. She had short, black hair, ice blue eyes and a mouse tail, which she had wrapped around her waist. The girl seemed to be about a head shorter than Ruby, and cheerfully smiled at Yang.
"See?" Oobleck asked and said, "I told you that she showed up when you say her name."
"Wait, that's Talia?" Yang asked.
"Yep, in the flesh," Talia answered with a child-like voice.
"You've got to be kidding me," Yang said, "I mean, she's not even old enough to sit in the front seats in a car. How can she be a huntress?"
"I am a huntress," Talia said and asked, "Wanna try me?"
"No, sorry," Yang answered, "I've got more important things to worry about right now."
"Talia, why are you here?" Taiyang asked.
"None of your business," Talia answered, then chuckled. Taiyang gave Oobleck a small nod.
"Talia, why are you here?" Doctor Oobleck asked.
"None of your business," Talia answered, "One more, then I won't answer any more."
"What is your problem?" Yang shouted, "Can't you see I'm dealing with something right now?!" Yang pointed at the stump that used to be her right arm. Talia's smile faded and she looked directly at Yang, who was taken aback by this sudden change in mood.
"Your sister is in danger," Talia said.
"Wait, what?" Yang asked, "What do you mean? I thought Qrow was keeping an eye on her."
"Qrow and several others were making sure the festival would go off without a problem, and look what happened," Talia said, "A certain someone is far from the worst person in the world. Someone forced him to play along, and that someone's boss is now after Ruby. They'll also go after her friends, which is why everyone is keeping an eye on them. Sirena is with Ruby, Niob with Weiss, and my brother is with Blake. They're safe, but people will come for you, too."
"Wait, what?!" Taiyang asked, "Sirena is back? And she is with Ruby?"
"Don't worry," Talia answered, "She came back on her own accord to protect Ruby. You know how she is when she takes someone's protection personal. You'll see Grimm perform a ballet performance before someone lays a finger on Ruby." Suddenly, Yang picked Talia up and carried her out of the house under her arm.
"Look, I don't know what kind of game you're playing," Yang said, "Or how you got the others to play along, but breaking into people's homes, telling them their family is in danger when they already have enough to worry about, and making fun of their other family members just doesn't sit right with me. If this is supposed to make me feel better, sorry, but it doesn't, and I don't know who would think otherwise. Now, get lost."
~o~
Just as she was about to drop Talia in front of the door, Talia used her tail like a whip to hit the back of Yang's knee. Yang dropped to one knee, held her struck knee in pain and activated her aura, just before Talia kicked her in the side. An aura shockwave sent Yang flying against a tree, knocking the air out of her. As Yang got back up, she saw Talia jumping towards her and rolled out of the way. Talia almost hit the old oak tree, but the aura around her hand still left a dent in the bark. Yang scrambled to get back up, ran around the house and threw herself against the kitchen door. Without slowing down, she ran into the living room and grabbed her prosthetic arm.
"Yang, what's wrong?" Taiyang asked as he and the teachers came running into the living room.
"Talia attacked me," Yang answered.
"Did not," Talia said like a little girl, lying upside-down on the couch. Yang jumped up and spun around, holding her prosthetic arm at her like a gun.
"I have the burn mark to prove it," Yang said, pointing at her knee.
"That's the point," Talia said, "If I wanted to hurt you, that hit would've cut right through your knee, and you'd be in two in front of the house now."
"Then why did you do this?" Yang asked.
"To show you something," Talia answered, turned to the men and said, "Leave us alone, please."
"I guess you can continue this discussion tomorrow," Taiyang said. The teachers went back to Vale, Yang and Taiyang went to bed, and Talia disappeared to somewhere.
~o~
The next morning, after breakfast, Talia knocked on the door. Yang went to open it, and was surprised that she didn't just come in like the day before. The two huntresses sat down in the living room, and Yang tried on the new arm.
"To be honest," Talia said, "I modified it ever so slightly."
"Meaning?" Yang asked.
"It connects to your scroll," Talia answered, "That way, you can keep track of everyone's aura without having to look at your scroll. You can send and receive messages, make and manage calls, check the weather forecast, and so on." When Yang's arm connected to the stump and her nervous system, she saw a number pad pop up in her vision.
"What is that?" Yang asked.
"The number pad?" Talia asked and said, "Type in your scroll number so your arm knows what to connect to."
"Alright," Yang said, looked a bit confused and asked, "How do I do that?"
"Your arm is connected to your brain," Talia answered, "Just think."
"Ok," Yang said and focused on the number pad. After several failed attempts, she managed to get the hang of it and typed in her scroll's number. Her scroll rang right away, and Yang picked it up and saw a message asking to establish a connection with her arm. She confirmed the message and felt somewhat exhausted almost immediately afterwards.
"What's wrong?" Talia asked.
"I don't know, I'm exhausted," Yang answered and asked, "Is that normal?"
"Well, yeah," Talia answered, "Your scroll has to change all the files to be compatible with your arm, and it uses the most efficient computer available to help with that."
"Then why am I so exhausted?" Yang asked and leaned back in the couch.
"Like I said," Talia answered, "It uses the most efficient computer available. And the most efficient computer in the entire world is the human brain. Your arm and scroll are using the parts of your brain that you don't use at the moment to convert all the files on your scroll into versions your brain can process."
"Speaking of which," Yang said and asked, "What's with that thing about humans only using ten percent of the brain?"
"Not entirely true," Talia answered, "It's true that you never use all areas of your brain at the same time, but you use them all in different situations. Language, memory, coordination, and so on. Also, a lot of areas are not accessible consciously, because that'd be too difficult to manage." Yang felt the fatigue slowly wear off again.
"How long is this supposed to last?" Yang asked.
"Not long," Talia answered, "All files are converted at the same time, but some are easier to convert, so they'll be done sooner. This frees up some of your brain power to convert other files, but some of it is left for you to use." Yang felt the fatigue wear off more and more.
"I think it's getting better," she said.
"Good," Talia said, "Then we can get to training soon."
"What kind of training?" Yang asked.
"Well, we gotta do something about your temper," Talia answered, "Lucky for you, I have just the thing to help with that. Also, we need to work on your combat skills if you want to survive what's coming."
"What do you mean?" Yang asked, "I can fight pretty good."
"Trust me, you can't," Talia answered, "There were three assassins in the area, all sent to kill someone who matches your description, and one was in striking range when I got to him."
"Really? I didn't notice anything," Yang said and asked, "Wait, there were? What happened?"
"That's the point," Talia answered, "You'd be dead without ever knowing why. Also, I dealt with them." The two kept discussing Yang's training until Yang felt better, then they headed outside for some combat training.
~o~
Yang and Talia were training in the forest near Yang's house, in some distance so they wouldn't be disturbed. Yang threw a punch with her right arm, but Talia deflected the blow and pushed the arm to her right. She dashed forward and hit Yang in the stomach with her left elbow, adding force by pushing with her right arm. Yang felt the sharp elbow bone thrust into her midsection and stumbled backwards in shock. Talia quickly closed the distance, grabbed Yang's right fist with her own and forced it up. She hit Yang's elbow with a karate chop and her right knee with her tail whip. Before Yang knew what was happening, she was on the ground. Yang jumped on her feet and activated her semblance, trying to hit Talia with thrice the amount of energy she had been hit with. Talia jumped out of the way and Yang hit the ground, leaving a small dent.
"Wait, what?" Yang asked, "Why is there so little energy?"
"Because I barely touched you," Talia answered, "I analyzed your posture, and found the best way to bring you down. None of my attacks had enough energy to crack an egg." Her voice sounded much more mature and confident than usual, and her entire body language had changed.
"But it felt so much stronger," Yang said and asked, "How did you do that?"
"Clever manipulation of the laws of nature," Talia answered, "Mother nature is bigger than us. Hers is the only game in town, and by knowing the rules, you can win without playing. That is how I fight."
"Can you teach me?" Yang asked.
"That is what I am here for," Talia answered, "Your semblance puts a neat spin on the laws of energy conservation. It took me some time to figure out, but I realized how you do it."
"How?" Yang asked, "And can I do it better?" Talia's posture changed again, and she spoke in a more nasal tone than before.
"I'm not sure if you can do it better," Talia answered, "But your emotional state has something to do with how you release energy. Your anger increases the strength of your aura, but instead of going into defense, that energy goes into offense. That's where your extra strength comes from. Also, apparently you absorb all forms of energy from enemy attacks, not just kinetic. You should be able to get stronger just by absorbing heat, with enough training."
"Really?" Yang asked.
"Yes," Talia answered, "After all, heat is just kinetic energy on an atomic level. Like we discussed, my training aims to help you absorb enemy attacks more effectively. An enemy weapon pushes the air molecules in front of it, so you should be able to absorb energy from an attack before it even hits you."
"Wait, really?" Yang asked.
"Of course," Talia answered, "So for now, we'll focus on giving you a sense of smaller amounts of energy, or on a smaller scale."
"Alright then," Yang said. The two continued training for the rest of the day, with Talia only lightly hitting Yang so she could get better at absorbing small amounts of energy, then Yang headed back home and Talia disappeared to wherever she was staying.
~o~
The next morning, Talia knocked on the door and Yang opened to let her in. Talia sat down on the couch and pulled out a video game cartridge.
"What about training?" Yang asked.
"This is your training for today," Talia answered, sounding like her usual, child-like self again.
"A game?" Yang asked.
"A game I programmed," Talia answered, "It helps improve reaction time, multitasking, focus, and a few other things I've noticed you were lacking."
"What do you mean?" Yang asked.
"Yesterday, during training, I sent you several messages," Talia answered, "You didn't reply to any of them."
"I was busy fighting," Yang said and asked, "How did you even send them?"
"I used my tail," Talia answered. It suddenly dawned on Yang that, every time Talia evaded one of her attacks, she had kept her tail out of her view for a few seconds before she got a message.
"Well, that's quite impressive," Yang said and asked, "Anyway, we talked so much about my semblance, but what is yours?"
"Possession," Talia answered, "I can possess stuff and take over its functions. If I possess something that doesn't have a camera, I can't see, though. Also, I can possess my aura to turn into what can best be described as a ghost."
"What happens when you possess dust?" Yang asked.
"I turn into an elemental," Talia answered.
"Like the ones in video games?" Yang asked.
"Yep," Talia answered, "I become an accumulation of essence of that element, and can take control of it whenever I want. But let's play a game, shall we." She connected a tablet to the TV and sat down on the couch. Yang sat down next to her and both of them registered their scrolls as controllers.
"So, what's the goal?" Yang asked.
"Surviving," Talia answered, "I'll let you get used to the controls first, though." Yang started as a small, yellow and black submarine in a dark ocean trench, with barely any light available. It had plasma guns, grenade launchers, proximity mine launchers, and an EMP blast. The submarine accelerated pretty quickly, and Yang only had a split second to react to obstacles, which were plentiful and damaged her vessel if she crashed into them. After some testing, Yang finally got the hang of the controls.
"Ok, I'm ready," she said.
"Alright," Talia said. She joined in and Grimm started showing up. Yang killed one of them with several plasma shots, and her submarine absorbed the black smoke it turned into.
"Wait, what?" Yang asked.
"I'm testing a new technology right now," Talia answered, "It turns the dark energy of Grimm into matter. It's still just a theory, but this game has it a reality already. You can craft all sorts of things from it." She pulled up a crafting menu on her scroll and made new ammunition for her grenade launcher, while still killing Grimm left and right.
"That's… interesting," Yang said and tried to craft something, but got killed by the Grimm when she was distracted. The rest of the Grimm, which were following Talia, swam over to Yang's vessel. Talia launched a few mines into the swarm, killing them all.
"Thank you," Talia said.
"Just you wait," Yang said. After respawning, she went after Talia and aimed her guns at the mouse faunus' submarine. Talia constantly evaded Yang's attacks, which attracted a lot of Grimm.
"You're supposed to kill the Grimm," Talia said.
"I thought I was supposed to survive," Yang countered. She died again, and got more upset.
The two kept playing for hours, with Yang getting increasingly frustrated that she kept dying while Talia kept profiting off of it.
"Ok, one last time, then we take a break for today," Talia said in the evening.
"Alright," Yang said and took a deep breath to calm down again. After respawning, she looked through the crafting interface and found something she could use. Looking through the game's controls on her arm, she found a function to add a support player, and added her arm as one. She killed Grimm until she could afford a decoy, deployed it and controlled it with her arm, making it seem like the real vessel. She dropped a grenade and crashed head-first into Talia's vessel, destroying both at the same time. Grimm came rushing in and were killed by the blast. Yang's decoy, equipped with a more resistant energy collection unit, absorbed the smoke and Yang picked it up.
"Well done," Talia said and asked, "And, how do you feel?"
"I'm getting a headache," Yang answered, "But it was worth it." She rubbed her aching head and chuckled a little. They turned off the game and headed to bed, with Talia disappearing into the woods again.
~o~
The next morning, after breakfast, Yang and Talia went back to sparring. Yang tried hitting Talia with her right fist, but Talia ducked to the side and spun around, trying to kick Yang in the face from her left. Yang caught Talia's foot and threw her into the nearby bushes. Talia augmented her semblance with earth-dust and possessed the ground. She made rock spikes strike Yang and throw her around, with Yang barely being able to block the attacks.
"How am I supposed to fight dirt?!" Yang asked, getting up after getting hit by another attack. She kept getting beat up until her aura depleted, then Talia called the training off for the day.
~o~
A week later, Yang and Talia were sparring again, with Talia using the earth as a weapon. She had given Yang some advice on focusing her aura, especially when using her semblance to release energy, to get more out of it. Yang got frustrated, but took a deep breath to calm down again, and tried something new. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and focused on the movement of the ground. A rock spike erupted behind her. Yang whirled around and shattered it with her right fist, focusing all the energy on one of her knuckles, and sending shrapnel and a powerful gust of wind into the woods and uprooting a tree. The sudden release of that much energy over a pea-sized area created a vacuum, which collapsed immediately and resulted in an explosion that sent Yang flying backwards and depleted her aura from the heat and shockwave. When Yang looked around, she saw the grass singed and the ground near where she had stood being cracked and scorched. Talia fixed the ground, then manifested next to her.
"See?" Talia asked and said, "That's how you get the most out of your semblance. Now you just need to get used to the recoil. But you better transform back now." Yang tilted her head, not sure what Talia was talking about, but then looked at herself. She was covered in golden scales, and her neck, which now was about half as long as she was tall, made up a third of her total body length. Yang spun around on her four legs and Talia ducked under the bone club at the tip of her tail, which was about as long as her neck. She stopped turning around and gasped, spreading a pair of leathery wings in surprise. She took a deep breath, calmed down again, closed her eyes and imagined herself as a human again. When she opened her eyes again, Yang looked at her hands, and saw that they were, in fact, human hands. Her prosthetic arm was still just that, despite being a real limb when she was in her dragon form. The blonde looked at Talia, who was still just standing and watching.
"Ok, what just happened?" Yang asked.
"You turned into a dragon," Talia answered.
"I know that, but why?" Yang asked.
"It probably has something to do with therianthropes," Talia answered.
"Say what now?" Yang asked.
"The first species the Brother Gods created," Talia answered, "They were able to switch between a human form and an animal form at will. They were supposed to be extinct, but some recessive genes may still exist."
"But why a dragon?" Yang asked, "And why me?"
"I know, right?" Talia answered and sarcastically asked, "You can fly, are covered in bullet resistant scales, and can chew through steel. Where's the good in that?"
"Alright, I get it, I'm awesome," Yang said and asked, "But why a dragon? I thought they weren't real."
"Welcome to the world of science," Talia said, "Where you learn everything you know is wrong every other Tuesday. Fossil records actually show that dragons used to be real, but another species spread into their territories and killed them all."
"So, I'm part dragon and part the species that made them go extinct?" Yang asked, looking at her hands.
"Yep," Talia answered, "But don't worry, I'm sure we'll find a nice guy dragon."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Yang asked, now both blushing and shocked at the implications.
"Don't tell me dragon-riding huntsmen don't sound awesome to you," Talia said.
"Ok, that does sound awesome," Yang said, "But still, there has to be another way."
"Well, we could try cloning you," Talia suggested, "I'd just need some of your DNA."
"Like?" Yang asked.
"A hair," Talia answered.
"I'll think of something," Yang said, "You just stay away from my hair, and don't try to set me up with someone either. Now, let's head back."
"Ok," Talia said, and both headed back to Yang's home.
~o~
Yang and Talia walked up to the former's home, where Taiyang was already waiting for them. As Yang approached, he gave her a confused and concerned look.
"Hey dad, what's wrong?" Yang asked.
"Your eyes are red," Taiyang answered and asked, "Are you upset or anything?"
"What?" Yang asked and said, "Oh, no, I'm just… you see, I got my anger under control. Basically, I'm always angry, so it's easier for me to control."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Taiyang asked.
"Yeah," Yang answered, "I mean, suppressing who you are never ends well, as far as I know, so I figured I'd give it a shot."
"Anyway," Talia said, "I'm off now, see you tomorrow."
"Alright, see you," Yang said, and Talia walked away. She disappeared into the woods, went back to her improvised camp site in the hollow trunk of a dead tree, and had some roots and berries for dinner before bed.
~o~
The next morning, when Talia went back to keep training with Yang, she found the blonde had painted her prosthetic arm and looked much happier and more determined than before.
"Hey, what's up?" Talia asked.
"Hey Talia," Yang said and answered, "I got a letter from Ruby. The whole gang is safe in Mistral, so now I'm heading there as well."
"Really?" Talia asked and said, "That's great. I'm coming with you."
"Sure you are," Yang said in a matter of fact tone, and went to get her bike ready. After bidding her farewell to her father and Zwei, she rode off, with Talia sitting behind her.
~o~
As soon as the house was out of sight, Yang jumped over a rock and focused on being a dragon again. She spread her wings, and felt something on her back. She looked and saw a saddle, able to fit two people, strapped to her back, with Talia sitting in it. Her right front leg was organic, but the scales had a metallic sheen to it, and black outlines. She sped up a little to see how fast she could go, and before she knew it, she was soaring through the sky at near super-sonic speeds. A Giant Nevermore crossed her path, and Yang made a sharp turn to hit it with her tail club, putting her full force into the strike. The Grimm's bone-plated skull exploded under the force of impact, but Yang felt the shock ripple through her entire body and lost her balance, plummeting to the ground. Talia quickly augmented her semblance with air-dust and possessed the air to catch Yang. After setting her down in the forest, Talia manifested in front of Yang.
"Be more careful," she said, "I can't keep saving you like this." Yang turned back into her human form.
"Sorry, I think I got carried away," Yang said, "But thanks for saving me. Anyway, I think we saved enough time already, so we'll travel by bike from now on." They got back on Yang's bike and rode off towards the village of Blackport.
~o~
Yang and Talia got off of the bike when they reached the shady coastal village, and a procession of people left the gates. The first of the five men wore a white hooded robe with nature patterns embroidered in various shades of green, the other four wore simple white knee-long pants. While the man leading them carried an incense burner, the others carried wooden boxes tied to carrying poles. The duo kept walking until they were somewhat alone.
"What was that about?" Yang asked.
"The people here are kind of crazy," Talia answered, "They think a forest deity is protecting them from Grimm, so they present offerings every month on the day before the full moon."
"I see," Yang said.
"Yep, but sometimes not all of them return," Talia said, "So they bring a sacrifice along every six months."
"Wait, a sacrifice?" Yang asked and stopped, "As in, a person they leave in the forest for this deity to do with as it pleases?"
"Yeah," Talia answered, "But they managed to greatly reduce the fatality rate in the village. Aside from alcohol poisoning, illness or old age, there are no more deaths aside from the two sacrifices. The people here see it as a great honor to be chosen as sacrifice, and there haven't been any Grimm attacks by way of land in over three years because of this."
"Let's just… get out of this town as fast as possible," Yang said. They made their way through the residential area, past the shops and factories, and reached the harbor, where all kinds of ships brought all kinds of goods. After finding a good ship, they bought a ticket and boarded the ferry to take them to Anima.
~o~
On the boat, Yang and Talia were looking out onto the sea, the wind blowing through their hair and the sun reflecting on the surface of the water.
"Hey, Talia," Yang said and asked, "Ever tried possessing Grimm?"
"Yeah, why?" Talia answered.
"What's it like?" Yang asked.
"It's… strange," Talia answered, "I best tell you all about it, so you can get a better idea of what happened."
~o~
Talia jumped out of her father's scroll and into the kitchen blender, rapidly switching between the different settings. The kitchen was somewhat spacious, with a cooking element in the middle, a fridge next to the sink, which was set under the window, and several overhead cupboards with all sorts of herbs and spices in them.
"Talia, dear," her mother, Eis Star said, "I know you just unlocked your semblance, but could you please stop over-using it like that?" Her steampunk-looking gloves were on the counter top next to the sink, and she wore a plain white shirt under a light blue blouse, black puffy pants with dark brown leather shin guards under the knees, and had bare feet. Her black hair was tied into a ponytail, and her ice blue eyes gave the mixer a disapproving look. Talia kept messing with the controls a little, and her mother extended and retracted her lion claws, tapping them on the hardwood counter top. Talia came out of the mixer and sat down next to her, her aura depleted.
"Sorry, I'm just so excited," Talia said. She giddily jumped from one foot to the other and giggled, before focusing and forcibly recharging her aura. She possessed it again, but her mother focused the aura around her right hand and grabbed Talia by the neck piece of her stealth suit. She became corporeal again and hung in the air, frowning and pouting.
"If you're not careful, you'll break your semblance," Eis said.
"Is that really a thing?" Talia asked.
"Of course," Eis answered, "Why do you think us huntsmen don't use our semblances all the time?" Eis let her down again.
"Ok, I'll be more careful now," Talia said and ran off to find something else to capture her interest.
~o~
While Talia was telling her story, Yang couldn't help but chuckle a little, causing Talia to stop and give her a somewhat annoyed look.
"What?" Talia asked.
"Your mom really made you believe you could break your semblance?" Yang asked with a chuckle.
"I was eight, ok?" Talia retaliated, "Anyway, onto the story. My parents used to train my brother and I in an old fort in the forest near out village, which is where I wanted to go to see if there was anything interesting."
~o~
Talia ran through the farming village's streets and out the western gate, and into the forest. Following the same trail her parents took to their training sessions, she eventually encountered a Beowolf.
"Ok, a Grimm," Talia thought, "I can deal with those. But what do they act like? I'll pretend to be a Grimm and take out the whole pack." She waited for the Grimm to come close enough, then grabbed its wrist and tried to possess it. She found herself in an endless dark void, with a single red sphere hovering in the distance. Talia floated closer towards it, and when she touched it, three red tendrils with white barbs at the end wrapped around her arm, holding her in place.
"Who is this?" a female voice asked.
"My mommy said I shouldn't talk to strangers," Talia replied.
"How did you reach this place?" the voice asked.
"Sorry, can't talk to you," Talia answered.
"A child?" the voice asked, "Fine then, listen well, because I will not repeat myself."
"What was that?" Talia asked.
"I said that I will not -," the voice started, but stopped when Talia giggled.
"Almost made you do it," Talia chanted several times. The voice grumbled, and Talia felt the entire space shiver.
"Listen to me," the voice shouted, "I will destroy your home village, and all you hold dear, and your only hope of survival is to side with me. Understood?"
"You're boring," Talia said, and before the woman could react, the entire space lit up bright red. Talia found herself floating in the forest again, with her mother's flaming feet pressing the Beowolf into the ground.
"Claws off my daughter!" Eis growled as the Grimm was incinerated underneath her foot, and the foot left a burn mark in the ground. Eis' aura manifested as a light blue tail protruding from her waist, as well as a pair of lion ears on her head, and Talia could feel the raw force of nature radiating off the woman. A Giant Nevermore circling above looked down, and within the blink of an eye, Eis had jumped up to it and torn off its head. After landing again, she let her aura traits disappear and retracted her claws again.
"That... was... awesome!" Talia cheered.
"What were you thinking?!", Eis asked, half yelling, and said, "You could've gotten hurt. That was more than reckless. Promise me you won't try that again until you're old enough to enroll at an academy."
"I promise," Talia said, teary-eyed, "I'm sorry, I just wanted to see what it was like."
"It's fine, but next time, be more careful," Eis said, and both returned home.
~o~
Yang stared at Talia with a mix of disbelief and amazement. She needed a few moments to let the story sink in, then she finally spoke up.
"Your mom sounds awesome," she just said, and asked, "But how did she do that with the aura tail and ears?"
"Have you ever felt like your aura never ran out?" Talia asked and said, "That happens to everyone in extreme situations, but with enough training, you can do that on purpose. For faunus, it comes with an added bonus, if they go through special training first. Instead of just keeping all the aura we need and radiating the rest off into the environment like humans, we can bind it to our bodies to increase our physical and mental capabilities beyond what seems possible, even in extreme situations."
"Can you do that, too?" Yang asked.
"Sure, look," Talia answered and held up her right hand. Five silver-white claws made up of her aura manifested on her fingertips, and Yang saw Talia's aura go crazy in her augmented vision. Talia let the claws disappear again, and Yang's augmented vision returned to normal.
"Anyway, what about that woman?" Yang asked, "The one who talked to you through the Grimm, I mean."
"Oh yeah, she's annoying," Talia answered, "And ugly."
"Wait, what?" Yang asked.
"After I enrolled at Beacon, I talked with her a lot more," Talia answered, "Eventually I figured out how she talks to me, and how I can use this connection to get to her. It's quite fun to mess with her."
"I really don't think that's a good idea," Yang said.
"Calm down, nothing bad has happened yet," Talia said and asked, "Anyway, wanna hear a story about how I possessed a big computer?"
"Sure," Yang answered.
"Ok then, but this one's a bit weird," Talia said. The ship reached the harbor and the two women got off board, setting out to make their way to Mistral.
~o~
Talia was floating around in the CCT tower of Mistral, hiding some highly compressed data in the student files of several Sanctum Academy students. A call for help shot past her, and she picked up a copy of it.
"A fire?" Talia thought, "Nice." She rushed to the weapon factory where the call had come from, and materialized in the dust storage room. Talia opened a dust crate, grabbed an air-dust crystal and possessed the air in the building to extinguish the flames. She forced the carbon monoxide into one space, and opened a path for the people still trapped inside, filling the corridor with oxygen. The flames died down almost immediately, and the people ran out of the building. As the firefighters arrived, they looked around and checked for any fires that had remained, but couldn't find any.
~o~
Yang and Talia were riding Bumblebee along a forest path, with Yang listening to Talia's stories while driving, and Talia sitting behind Yang.
"Wait, what were you doing in those servers in the first place?" Yang asked.
"Stuff," Talia answered.
"I see," Yang said and asked, "Anyway, what are the others in your team like?"
"Can't you wait until you meet them?" Talia asked.
"I could, but I'm worried about Ruby," Yang answered, "And as you know, that attracts Grimm. Can you at least tell me something about Sirena?"
"Alright, fine," Talia answered.
~o~
After discussing the plans for protecting Team RWBY, Argent and his team went to take care of preparations. The team leader made sure he could get to Menagerie and tracked down Blake to keep an eye on her, Niob fashioned a new accessory for Sirena, and Talia went to explore the nearby forest a little. She sat at the fork in the rover surrounding Riverguard on the land side, and looked at the water. Sirena walked up to her, pulling her new unattached sleeves until she was comfortable with them.
"Masterful work, wouldn't you agree?" she asked Talia.
"Yeah," Talia answered and asked, "Anyway, anything new about, you know, that thing?"
"You mean our incomplete fusion?" Sirena asked and answered, "Yes, my mages informed me that it would be wisest to complete it." Both thought back at the day when Talia tried reaching Soraklia by phasing through the ground, and Sirena had to use her trident as launch pad to catch her. They had fused just long enough to land safely, then split up, and Talia had passed out from the exhaustion.
"So, how does this work?" Talia asked.
"Take my hand," Sirena answered, "I will lead you. If you want to cancel, just pull your mind away and I will stop." She took Talia's hand and pulled her into a hug, and both their auras lit up before merging into a metallic blue one. The first-ever fusion assumed the name Mimi, and looked down on herself.
"Truly marvelous, wouldn't you agree?" she asked, looking at something outside her reality, which only she could see. Her hair was reddish brown, but got darker towards the black tips. She wore a dark gray vest with multiple pockets over a dark blue crop top, and navy blue cargo shorts. When she looked at her hands, Mimi saw that she wore fingerless black gloves with three light blue spikes embroidered on each of them. When she turned her upper body, the three golden chains on her right side made a clinking noise, and she saw Sirena's weapon on her left side. Using her hydrokinesis semblance, she made a pillar of water rise from the river and turned it into an ice mirror, from which two silver eyes looked back at her. Assuming a rather offensive and aggressive stance, Mimi created three ice claws from each of her gloves and shouted at a charging Death Stalker that came crushing through the undergrowth.
"Come here!" Mimi shouted and charged at the Grimm, before stopping in the last second and assuming a more sophisticated pose. With nothing but a thought, and her semblance, she forced the river's water to bore through the soil, and a series of razor-sharp ice spikes erupted from under the Grimm, killing it instantly.
~o~
Yang listened to Talia's story while driving, but after Talia finished, and Yang had processed what she had just heard, she turned her head back and looked at the shorter huntress.
"Wait, you fused with another person?!" Yang shouted in surprise. She stopped and took a deep breath.
"What's wrong?" Talia asked.
"I tell you what's wrong!" Yang half shouted, "You and Sirena fused into one. How is that even possible?"
"I have a theory," Talia answered, "By synchronizing one's aura with another person's, both auras can merge into one, and the two bodies are treated as two parts of a whole. The auras of both people have a healing factor, which treats the two bodies as one that has been damaged. Because of that, the two people merge into one. At least, that is my theory."
"Alright, alright," Yang said and asked, "But why did you do that in the first place? And how do you know how to do it?"
"Sirena's people came up with it," Talia answered, "As far as I know, some of her alchemists theorized that it should be possible to combine different auras into one, and worked out some models on what might happen. When I visited Sirena in her kingdom, I pushed my semblance too much and passed out shortly after reaching it. She fused with me, but it was incomplete because, you know, I was unconscious."
"Wait, don't you need an active aura to fuse?" Yang asked, "Or did I get things mixed up?"
"Nope, you're right," Talia answered, "But my training allows me to keep my aura active even when I'm unconscious."
"That's pretty impressive," Yang said and asked, "Can you teach me?"
"Yeah, it is," Talia said and answered, "But no, I can't teach you. Only some faunus can learn it. Well, technically humans could learn it too, but it'd take forever for you to learn. Anyway, let's stop in that Inn for the night." She pointed at a roadside Inn, which was surrounded by a few farming houses and a blacksmith, Yang stopped her bike in front of it and they went inside.
~o~
After Yang had bought a room for the two, with money Talia had borrowed her, they waited until the evening and went to get dinner. Talia noticed a scorpion faunus whose tail was just a stump sitting at a table and staring at his food. A waitress walked up to them after they put down the menus.
"And, have you decided?" the waitress asked.
"Yeah," Yang answered, "I'll take the pork chops."
"Salad for me, please," Talia said in a child-like voice and asked, "And can you give that man over there a seafood platter?"
"Of course," the waitress answered and asked, "But, why?"
"Mommy said good food is good for your mood," Talia answered, "And fish is good." The waitress giggled.
"Of course," she said and walked away.
"What's with him?" Yang whispered and pointed at Tyrian.
"Look at his neck," Talia answered, "These scars are Sirena's doing. They clearly had a run-in with each other. Ruby was there, too. Otherwise she would've killed him. Unless he is still useful to her somehow."
"Wait, is he dangerous?" Yang asked.
"I don't know," Talia answered, "Watch." The waitress brought Tyrian the food, under a serving bell, told him who bought it for him and walked away. Tyrian peeked under the metal bell, froze for a moment, then began to chuckle. His chuckles quickly turned into maniac laughter and he jumped up, flipped the table and began throwing things at everyone around. The guests fled the Inn, and Yang ran to confront him. She hit him with a right hook, but he readied his wrist-mounted bladed weapons and attacked Yang. She absorbed both the force of impact to the fullest, and used the first opening to send Tyrian flying through the wooden wall.
"Who are you?" Tyrian asked after he got back up. Talia manifested in front of him.
"I am Talia Star, and your opponent," she answered. Tyrian tried hitting her with his weapons, but she ducked under them and grabbed his right wrist as he made his second strike with the weapon. She planted her left heel on his left shoulder and used his own momentum to toss him into the ground. The impact forced the air out of him and he passed out.
"That was… strangely brutal," Yang said, "For someone your size, that is."
"Thanks, but we're not done here," Talia said, "There are Grimm coming. You stay here, I'll cover the other side." She ran off into the small settlement, and before Yang could wonder how Talia knew this already, she heard Grimm roar in the distance. Her scroll calculated that it'd be ten minutes before they arrived. One of the farmers came up to Yang.
"Huntress, thank the gods you're here," he said and asked, "Can we do anything to help?" Yang thought for a moment.
"Yes," she answered, "Get everyone in a single building, barricade every entrance, and if you can, prepare to drop heavy stuff from windows if any Grimm come within range. And make sure sharp things like pitchforks stick out of the barricades and point towards the Grimm."
~o~
After helping with the preparations, Yang got ready to fight the Grimm. She had given the mothers and the strongest men flails, hammers, hoes and other improvised weapons, and helped them carry kettles up to the windows of the barn they were all holed up in. She walked up to the southern entrance of the settlement, facing the approaching pack of Beowolves. The first one was smoke almost immediately, but the second got a hit in before Yang punched it into oblivion. They swarmed her and attacked relentlessly, but she could feel the air their claws moved out of the way. She focused on the fight, and nothing but the fight, and sensed the exact location of every Grimm around her. She only released as much energy as she needed to kill off any given enemy. After she killed the final Beowolf, a Beringel ran up to her. It attempted to punch her, but she blocked the blow and released some energy through her legs to counter the force of the impact. It punched her a second time, but she held against it with her left fist, breaking its arm. She followed it up with three punches to the face, shooting explosive shotgun shells into its mouth and killing it. She heard cheering from behind her and turned around to see three boys peeking out from behind a bush, with a fourth one hiding behind it.
"That was awesome," one of them said.
"How did you do that?" another one asked. Yang thought for a moment.
"Hard work, lots of exercise, and a balanced diet," she finally answered.
"Watch out!" one of the boys yelled and pointed behind Yang. She hit an Alpha Beowolf with the back of her right fist, stunning it, and looked at it.
"Shut up, I'm being a role model here," she said and stomped on the Grimm's head, killing it.
"So cool," one of the boys said.
"I wanna be a huntsman when I grow up," another boy said, and the others hummed in agreement.
"Then better start eating your vegetables," Yang said, "Go to bed early, and pay attention in school. But don't forget to have fun every once in a while either."
"I can't wait to tell mom that a huntress told me to play video games," one of the boys said.
"Huntress in training," Yang said, "And if you want to be like me, you gotta make time for relaxing. And maybe have a family game night once a week."
"My parents are always busy on their fields, though," one of the boys said.
"Why don't you help them?" Yang asked, "Hard work builds muscle and character, and being able to handle all sorts of farming tools can come in handy when you need an improvised weapon or something." She turned around and fought off another wave of Grimm, including Beowolves, Alpha Beowolves and Beringel.
~o~
After the fight, Yang brought the four boys to the barn, where they had a tearful reunion with their parents.
"What were you thinking?" one of the boys' mother asked, "We were worried sick about you."
"I know," the quiet kid said, "It drew the Grimm here, where they were killed easily." The entire barn went dead quiet, and a woman walked up to the child.
"You did this on purpose?" she asked, "Why?"
"It was the most efficient way to kill these Grimm," the boy answered calmly, and without any emotion in his voice.
"Wait, hold on," Yang said and turned on her scroll's aura monitor. Her own aura was at 15%, Talia's was still at 100%, and to her surprise, she saw that the boy had an aura as well, and it was at 95%.
"What is it?" the boy's mother asked.
"It seems he has an active aura," Yang answered.
"What do you mean?" the boy's mother asked.
"I mean he can generate an aura," Yang answered, "And he may just be able to use a semblance, too."
"Yep," Talia said from the other side of the barn and explained, "It's an information gathering semblance, which tells him how to save people."
"Are you sure?" the boy's mother asked, "I mean, he led Grimm directly to us."
"But none of you are hurt," Talia said and her entire posture changed, "I have a PhD in theoretical aura theory, and one in applied aura theory. I know what I'm talking about. His semblance tells him how to keep people safe using only what he has available. It's basically what every huntsman wants to do, and works hard to figure out. And by the looks of it, it never fails."
"You hear that?" one of the other boys asked and patted him on the shoulder, "You are a natural at protecting people. I'm kinda jealous." One of the girls from the middle of the barn came up to the boys.
"You guys should've seen your mothers," she said, "When those Grimm came in here, they were far from the most ferocious fighters."
"What do you mean?" one of the boys asked.
"Your mothers fought like rabid wolves or something," the girl answered, "I'm a little scared to mess with them now, to be honest."
"I knew it'd work," Yang said, "Nothing is more dangerous than a mother protecting her children." She noticed a list of auras in her augmented vision and scrolled down, seeing that several women had their auras unlocked as well. Suddenly, the black head of a King Taijitu broke through the ground and everyone in the barn panicked. Yang and Talia got ready to fight, and a light green aura manifested around Yang in the form of a medieval leather armor. A new aura appeared on her augmented vision. While she looked around to find the person it belonged to, Talia manifested her aura as claws on her fingertips and dug them into the King Taijitu. Silver-white cracks formed around her fingers, disintegrating the Grimm in the blink of an eye. After the Grimm went up in smoke, the barn was quiet for a moment, then everyone applauded the huntress, and Talia let her aura traits dissipate again.
"Thank you," one of the adults said, and the others expressed their gratitude as well.
"Just doing my job," Talia said.
"Hey, you there," Yang said, looking at a girl in the crowd.
"Me?" she asked.
"Yeah, you," Yang answered and the girl came over to her.
"What is it?" the girl asked.
"I see you unlocked your semblance," Yang answered.
"My semblance?" the girl asked, "What is it?"
"This armor," Yang answered, "I actually feel a bit safer with it, as if I was wearing an actual armor."
"Really?" the girl asked and said, "That's so cool."
"It sure is," Yang said, "But now we better get some sleep. Talia and I will help you clean up tomorrow, but we'll have to leave in the evening." After breaking down the defenses, everyone went to bed. Those whose houses were damaged by Grimm could sleep in the Inn for free until their houses were repaired.
~o~
The next morning, Talia explained aura and semblances to the two children, while Yang helped the adults remove broken pieces from the buildings and bring new materials to where they were needed.
"How can we grow claws like you?" one of the boys asked.
"Sorry, that's only for faunus," Talia answered, "But there are other things you can learn that I can't. Anyway, how about we make this village easier to protect?"
"Sounds good," the children and young adults answered.
"Well then, follow me," Talia said. She led the kids into the nearby forest, along a river, and to a mountain lake. She pulled a handful seeds from one of her pockets and planted them in the water.
"What are those?" a girl asked.
"Devil pod seeds," Talia answered, "When the plant is ripened, you can grab the fruit, dry it, and use it as caltrops. Just place them on the ground around the village when Grimm approach, and they won't make it far." She then explained how to care for the plants, and then went back to teaching them the basics of using their aura.
~o~
In the evening, Yang and Talia got a bed in the Inn, and a free meal, as reward for their help. The following day, they left the village again and went on their way to Mistral.
"Say, Talia, about that fusion thing," Yang said after a while and asked, "How about we try it?"
"No, sorry," Talia answered.
"Why not?" Yang asked.
"Because it'd be difficult," Talia answered, "Our fusion would be the best and worst of both of us. We all have our inner demons, and you can't handle all of mine."
"I can try, though," Yang said.
"No, you can't," Talia said, "My demons are too strong for any ordinary mortal to handle, especially all at once and without training."
"I'm pretty sure I can," Yang said and stopped her bike.
"And I'm pretty sure you can't," Talia said.
"We won't know until we try," Yang said.
"If we do that," Talia said, "Our fusion will become unpredictable. My sense of freedom and your short temper do not mix well at all. And I know you cannot handle my demons, because I am still struggling sometimes, so do not presume to know what it is like to fight my battles!" With that, she disappeared and left Yang along on the road. After a few minutes, Yang got going again and turned into her dragon form to save some time by heading straight for her target.
Author's note: Yang being a role model for some kids would definitely be interesting to see. The quiet kid's semblance actually tells him how he can achieve his goals, not just how he can save people. Talia just told him that was it to put him on the right path. If used in tandem with Mettle, it would be far too powerful, because not only would whoever used both know how to achieve their goals, they would also have the determination to do it.
The girl's armor aura is a support semblance, which grants the target, in this case Yang, increased defense, as well as some physical skills that the user possesses. Right now that second part is useless, and the bonus defense is pretty weak, but if the girl trains to use a weapon, anyone she uses her semblance on will be able to use that weapon with some efficiency as well.
Also, dragon Yang. Yay. That was the thing that needed tweaking, by the way. My original idea was that therianthropes were officially extinct, but some were still alive, and could be identified by their red eyes. Raven wanted to keep the bloodline going, but when Yang popped out with purple eyes, Raven considered her a failure and left. But by controlling her anger, Yang's eyes turn red and she can tap into her heritage. Like I said, that was the original idea, that died when we learned where Raven's powers really came from.
Talia likes Sirena. If Sirena doesn't like someone, Talia doesn't like them, either. And when Talia doesn't like someone, well, things can get rough.
Yang has a new super move now, but it takes around 35% of her aura. Not to pull off, but to survive. The heat and air pressure are extreme, and she doesn't even take a tenth of it. Also, both the damage and recoil depend on how much energy she chooses to release. However, the first time she used this, she unleashed all the energy she had store up, which was as much as she could hold at once.
I'm open for name suggestions for this move, but will prioritize puns or innuendos.
Talia using Grimm essence was one of the first ideas I had for the character. I don't plan to take it anywhere right now, but it works for video games, so I left it in.
The fusion AU comes to you courtesy of PricklyAlpaca on DeviantArt, who allowed me to use it and was really open to all sorts of questions.