Yang sighed as she leaned back in her chair, eyes half-closed as she listened to all the sounds of the bar. Mistral was undoubtedly a unique place. At least for her mother. To her, it was dull as dirt.
She sighed as she closed her eyes, sipping water while around her seedy people partied, made deals, or made terrible mistakes. One of those mistakes would be approaching her. Most everyone knew not to do so, but nearly every night she turned up, at least one idiot with no brain cells to rub together would try his hand.
It was one of those nights where those kinds of guys were out in force. She sighed as she finished her water and went to stand. An arm slid around her waist to keep her seated.
"Where are you going, babe?" The man smirked at her, completely unaware of his peril. She turned annoyed lavender eyes on him.
"Unhand me before I unhand you." She said firmly, her tone threatening.
"Aw, don't be like that." Her fist snapped out before he could get anymore drivel out and blood spurted from his nose seconds later.
People tensed at the violent action; she was well renowned for not stopping after the first punch and going until her opponent was six feet underground. It looked like this time wasn't about to be any different before Yang's drawn back arm was caught. A few breaths were sucked in at the audacity of whoever it was.
Red eyes swept over them. "Eyes to your drinks." She growled and everyone obeyed.
Yang had swept around to throw a punch at the woman before she recognised who it was and her red eyes returned to lavender.
She returned to her seat as if nothing had happened, a new drink slid her way and she nodded her thanks to the bartender. Raven took a seat beside her and another glass slid over to them. This one with a raised brow.
Raven took the free drink and took a sip. "Sweet stuff. How do you drink this?" She asked, nose crinkling.
Yang chuckled as she looked at the dark woman beside her. "Easily. Watch." She went to down the drink, but Raven caught her arm.
"Don't." She said simply, looking straight ahead.
"What brings you here and away from your bandits?" Yang asked instead. She was beyond pleased to see her mother but that didn't make her not curious.
"We'll talk about that later. Tell me, how has Mistral been treating you?" She asked instead, still sipping the sickly sweet strawberry sunrise.
Yang chuckled as she sipped the smoothie-like drink. "It's been interesting. Rather hot, lots of interesting people." She leaned back slightly, looking up at the ceiling.
Raven watched her from the corner of her eyes. A ghost of a smile on her lips as she observed her daughter. She slides her smoothie to Yang, casually replacing Yang's empty glass with her own. Yang didn't notice as she took a sip of the drink.
"When you finish, let's go for a walk." Raven stood, and Yang finished the drink before noticing the other empty glass. She twisted sharply to look at the retreating woman's back and placed the glass down to catch up with her.
"Hey…"
"Yes, Yang?" Raven turned, an expression of innocence that would have been better suited to Summer's face directed at her.
"Stop that." She was weirded out by the expression and let the switched drinks drop.
"Ruby's birthday. You'll both be getting an assignment for it."
"What a birthday gift. Ruby will be ecstatic, I'm sure." Yang couldn't help the sarcastic note that entered her voice, but she'd had the same thing happen to her.
Raven snorted as they walked away from the bar. "You don't sound pleased."
"I…" she paused before sighing heavily. "I'm just concerned, is all."
"It's Ruby." Yang nodded and let out a long breath.
"I'll always be worried about her." Raven chuckled softly.
"We're very much in the same boat. The same can be said of Summer too."
Yang nodded as she looked up at the clear blue sky. It had been a bit weird readjusting to a blue sky after the red one, but it was still a pleasure to see it.
"I guess we'll just have to see how it works out."
~~~~~
Yang smiled as she watched Ruby shout orders. She had two teams working well under her already, and they were kicking arse.
"Yang!" Ruby's yell broke her from her thoughts, and she leapt away from the Death Stalker, the piece of ancient bridge crumbling beneath her. "Weiss!" Ruby's yell got the heiress's attention, and Yang thumped against the glyph she'd made.
"Thanks, Weiss-Cream," Yang called back and by Weiss' expression, she was ready to let her drop into the abyss.
Yang soon returned to the fray, her gauntlet firing shell after shell into the Death Stalker's exo-skeleton. She flipped onto a more stable piece of the walkway, only for a screech to fill the air and she turned.
Both Blake and Ren were harassing the Nevermore. The pair was harassing the bird enough that it was heading straight at her.
"Incoming!" She shouted and a couple looked over.
The Nevermore crashed into the bridge, a couple of members going flying with it. Blake's ribbon caught a support and she swung around, under the bridge and straight into the Death Stalker's face.
Ren got tossed as well; he hit the bridge, nearly rolling off the side and was only caught by his pant's leg and Pyrrha's spear. He recovered and called to her to recover her spear.
Nora got sent flying but managed to get back up to the bridge on the far side, where she took a moment to get her bearings and see who was where.
Yang, Blake, and Weiss focused on the Nevermore, Jaune, Ren, and Pyrrha, focusing on the Death Stalker, she stopped. Where was Ruby?
She looked around before spotting a small blob on the Nevermore's back. Ruby's scythe was half embedded in the Nevermore's neck, and she seemed to be steering the massive bird.
"Incoming!" Her voice was a thin wail, and the trio turned in alarm before trying to bridge the massive gap.
They all jumped as Ruby and the Nevermore crashed into the bridge and Death Stalker. Jaune cried out as he fell short and began to fall. Blake's ribbon caught him and Yang began to heave him up.
"Where is Ruby?" She asked as she looked at the dust rising on the other side, concern evident on her face.
There was a weak squawk as Ruby fell out of the dust area. She was coated in a layer of dirt and looked a bit dizzy.
"Ruby!" Yang looked at the gap before Weiss put up a glyph to bridge it. Yang raced across the gap, her teammates not far behind her.
Eyes widened in horror as a glowing stinger rose above Ruby. Yang was nearly struck dumb with terror as it began to descend on her little sister.
"Ru-" A shield sailed past her head. Ruby turned slowly, blinking in confusion as she looked at the stinger coming at her. It took a moment before she realised what was about to happen; however, two things happened before it could.
A grenade exploded against the scorpion's claw and a bronze shield slammed into the stinger. It missed her by a hand's width. Yang let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. Her knees went partially weak before she got angry and she shot across the glyphs she'd stopped on.
Weiss let out a soft breath of her own as she watched Pyrrha and Nora slam into the Death Stalker, Jaune, of all people, taking charge.
"Pyrrha!" He called as he blocked the stinger of the Death Stalker with his shield. It thudded into the dirt, and Ren was instantly firing on the curved joint.
Pyrrha moved quickly, her shield blocking the incoming claw that had been about to grab Jaune. Yang sailed over the four, her single hit sending the Death Stalker sliding backwards. Six long gouges left by the massive monster.
They all fell back to regroup, Yang grabbing Ruby and holding her close. The peppy girl shook her head, trying to clear it as behind the Death Stalker, the Nevermore recovered as well.
"Damn it." She hissed as she looked at the pair.
"What do we do?" Jaune asked as he looked between them.
"Jaune," Ruby gently pushed Yang off her and stepped up beside him. "You take the Death Stalker. We'll take the Nevermore." He paused, looking over his team before nodding in agreeance.
"We'll lead the Nevermore away, giving you guys more room," Ruby stated calmly while she and the Nevermore had a staring contest.
Shrapnel hit the side of the bird's face, and it let out an angry squawk. It hopped over the Death Stalker and team JNPR. Team RWBY took off deeper into the ruins, forcing the bird to take a flight to follow them.
JNPR instantly set to work, harassing and attacking the Death Stalker and slowly pushing it closer and closer to the edge of the cliff.
While they worked on the Death Stalker, team RWBY worked on taking down the Nevermore. Weiss, Yang, and Ruby could understand the cries it let out, primarily angry and pained shrieks. Blake's ears flicked with every harsh sound, and it was starting to give her a headache.
"Let's finish this quickly," Ruby spoke from beside her, keen silver eyes noting her ear movements. She turned back to the bird before them.
Blake blinked a moment before she let out a short breath. "Right. So what do we do?" She asked as the bird continued to fly around them unsteadily.
"We finish taking its wing off." She said calmly. Weiss looked at her sidelong.
"And how do we get up there?" She asked blankly.
Ruby paused, considering the question before she looked between Yang and Blake. A slow smile curled her lips.
"Right. I have an idea."
~~~~~
"Yaaaaang!" Ruby slammed into Yang's front and the brawler grunted as she tried to keep her feet under her.
"Hey, Rubes. Miss me?" She asked as she wrapped her arms around the smaller girl.
"Of course." She gave her a massive grin. Yang grinned back, ruffling her hair, much to her annoyance. "Stop that."
She huffed as she pushed the arm away, and Yang chuckled.
"Hello, my little Sun Dragon." Yang's head snapped up, and she gave Summer a massive grin.
"Hi, mum. What's up?" Summer huffed as she looked at the young woman before her, but she still opened her arms. Yang instantly rushed into them, a massive grin on her face.
"How have you been?" Summer asked as she held Yang close. Yang would probably not say it to anyone she didn't trust, but Summer's embrace was one of the best she'd felt in her life.
"Oh, you know, here and there, beat up some people, made a few friends. The normal stuff." Yang was flippant as she smiled at her mother and Summer gave her a gentle smile back.
"I'm glad to hear it." She gently brushed a lock of hair behind Yang's ear before she let her go and looked between her two daughters. She looked pleased to have them both back with her, even if getting back with her meant the red lands of Salem's domain.
"Come on, you three. We'll miss the briefing if we're not careful." Raven smiled at Summer softly. The Bandit Queen had come to see what assignment the pair would get.
"Yes!" Ruby cheered before running ahead and taking Yang with her. Summer waited a moment, letting the girls run along before she linked arms with Raven.
"And how have you been?" She asked as they trailed behind their excited daughters.
"Oh, you know, here and there-" Summer elbowed the slightly taller woman as she was about to mimic Yang.
"I see where she gets it from." She spoke with a soft laugh, her hip slightly bumping hers.
"Of course. Where else would Ruby get it from?" Her red eyes nearly sparkled in the harsh lighting. Summer giggled at her and again gave their hips a nudge.
"How have you been?" Raven spoke as she looked at the other woman. Her hand sought out and gently clasped the other woman's.
"It's been dull." She sighed heavily, giving the hand in her grip a soft squeeze.
"I do not envy you." Raven sighed as she stroked Summer's cheek. Summer leaned into her with an affectionate sigh and shook her head.
"There isn't much I can do here." She sighed as she walked with her partner.
Raven chuckled as she nodded in agreement. Ahead of them, Ruby spoke excitedly to Yang and Yang told stories of her exploits.
"Do you ever regret it?" Summer asked softly and Raven looked at her. She took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh.
"Leaving Yang and Ruby first?" She asked in response, looking up to the red sky. "No. I was happy to give you as much time as I could. Do I regret the girls coming here? Sometimes."
She let out a heavy sigh, shoulders drooping as she looked at them. Both were nearly shining beacons of positivity and she wondered how Salem never seemed annoyed with either of them.
It didn't take long for the large castle to appear before them, less time still to get to Salem's court. Summer took her seat across from Raven. Watts, Hazel, Cinder and Tyrian sat down in their chairs. Yang stood off behind Raven while Ruby stood across from her behind Summer.
Salem entered the room gracefully, her neutral expression never changing. She almost looked serene at times. Her eyes scanned over her underlings and a couple had to hide shivers of fear.
"Ruby." Her smooth tone filled the room without effort. She had the entire room's attention as she waved her hand to the red-cloaked girl. Ruby straightened under the watch, her professional mask falling into place.
"Yes, My Queen?" She asked as she stepped up to Summer's side.
Salem gestured to the end of the table and Ruby turned, walking to the end before she stood before it, across from Salem herself.
"I believe you are old enough for your first real assignment." She paused as she glanced between Raven and Summer, well aware that no amount of ichor would keep them loyal if any harm came to the girl. She looked back at Ruby. "As I'm sure you're aware, this will be a test of your abilities."
Ruby nodded firmly, a determined look on her face. She was aware that everyone was looking at her but kept her focus on Salem. "Yes, My Lady." She said as she inclined her head.
"I have high expectations for you. I'm sure you understand."
Ruby could feel a cold sweat sliding down the back of her neck. She did not wish to face Salem's wrath.
"Do not fail me."
"Yes, My Queen."
~~~~~
"This plan is insane." Weiss huffed as Blake and Yang stretched Gambol Shroud's ribbon between two pillars.
"As long as it works," Blake muttered, holding one end while Yang pulled it tight.
"It'll work."
"And if you miss?" Weiss nearly growled the words as they watched the Nevermore circle above them.
"I won't." It was confident and Weiss' eyes slid in her direction. She took a breath as she prepared to summon the necessary glyphs.
"Just say when." Her voice was resigned as she watched the Nevermore. It let out a screech and Ruby leapt onto the aura reinforced ribbon.
It sank under her weight, and Weiss anchored her with a black glyph. Ruby kept her eyes intently on the massive bird, entirely focused on the injured wing.
Behind them was a screech followed by a cheer, the Death Stalker falling to its death. Ruby closed her eyes, taking a breath before she opened them again. She focuses solely on her target.
It was making another pass, watching them as intently as she watched it.
"Now."
Weiss let the glyph go, shooting Ruby forward like a bullet. Ruby sailed through the air. Weiss, Blake and Yang watched her, making calculations to see where she would hit.
It couldn't have been more perfect if they'd tried.
The Nevermore was turning towards her but it was too slow. Each shot from Crescent Rose was more speed for Ruby and that was what the Nevermore lacked the most.
She flew over its wing, Crescent Rose biting deep into the feathered joint. Every shot dug the wicked blade in deeper until it burst out the other side and the Nevermore was falling.
The only thing none of them had thought of while Ruby had spoken of her plan was what her landing strategy would be. She was soon falling beside the Nevermore.
"RUBY!" Yang screamed as she raced forward to catch her little sister. Weiss went to throw up a glyph, but it would be like hitting cement at her current speed.
She got an idea and quickly made a series of slanted glyphs, each one a few meters lower than the one before.
Ruby saw them pop up and quickly got the message. She activated her semblance and bounced off the first glyph but was otherwise unharmed as she landed and bounced off the second. She worked her way down and landed on the ruins, scythe blade slamming into the stone to lose her momentum.
As she spun, she dropped the magazine and reached for another one. She paused as she patted down her body.
"Whoops." She said as she couldn't find a single full one.
"Any reason you're out, sis?" Yang asked as she wandered over to her, a lot more relaxed now that she wasn't a pancake.
"The Beowolf pack I met when I first landed?" She looked a bit sheepish as she rubbed the back of her neck.
Yang snorted loudly but gave her a quick hug.
"Alright, then. Weiss, if you'd be so kind, would you take us to the top of this cliff?" She turned to the heiress, who sighed in response.
~~~~~
The dorms were nothing special. Yang sprawled across her new bed with a happy groan causing Blake to look over at her amused, while Weiss rolled her eyes. Ruby explored their new domain, from the bathroom to the shared kitchenette. Ren was in there too, looking over the facilities so that he could deal with Nora's random food cravings. The pair nodded to each other before Ruby left him alone in there.
She returned to her dorm and watched as her team unpacked their belongings. Weiss didn't have as much as most people expected. She just needed a place to store most of the bags.
Blake was steadily filling up the bookshelf with her collection of books. Ruby's head tilted as she read the titles and a smirk graced her lips as she read one title she knew well. Ninjas of Love.
Her attention shifted to Yang as the brawler put up a poster of her favourite band. Ruby raised a brow at the trio as she looked to a significant problem in the middle of the room.
"Soooo," she drew the word out as she looked at the beds, causing the three other girls to look up as well. "Where are we going to sleep?"
No one said anything as they looked at the mess of beds before Yang shrugged slightly, a smirk on her lips.
"The floor seems like a good option, doesn't it?" She asked and got a double elbow to her ribs from Blake and Weiss.
Ruby chuckled at her pain while looking over the room to see what was best to do. Blake still had a mountain of books leftover and Ruby and Weiss had a few of their own to add to the pile.
"How about… bunk beds?" Weiss hesitantly suggested as she refused to look at any of them. Ruby considered it and slowly nodded her head. She could see how that would conserve space and, in a sense, bring them closer.
"Perhaps, who wants what bunk?"
"We'll settle that after we finish making them." Blake said as she and Yang stepped forward to start construction. Weiss and Ruby moved around, adding books under the bed's legs to make it both level and stable.
Weiss looked at it sceptically before turning to the two remaining beds; she also eyed the remaining books. She and Ruby seemed to have the same thought.
"How should we set this one up? There aren't enough books." Ruby had a brow raised as she spoke.
Blake considered the situation before holding up a hand in a wait signal and raced out of the room.
"Where is she going?" Yang asked casually as the trio watched her go. She got matching shrugs of confusion.
She returned shortly with a length of Aura infused rope. Ruby raised a brow as she looked at it. "Where did you get that?" She asked, head tilting while looking at the cord.
"The instructors." Blake shrugged as she didn't make eye contact. The others shrugged before they began to wrestle with the second bed going up. It took significantly longer to get it level and stable, but that was also questionable.
The four girls looked between the "bunk beds". Each had a look on her face. Weiss looked dubious, Ruby looked amused, Yang looked mildly proud, and Blake looked bemused that neither had fallen yet.
"Dibs top." Ruby was already moving as she claimed the roped bunk. Weiss shrugged as she looked at the other three.
"Dibs bottom." Yang's eyebrows rose as Blake sat on the book bunk. Blake noticed the look and tilted her head. "What? I want to be close to my books."
Yang gave her a bemused look and shook her head as she swung onto the top bunk, Weiss having already claimed the other bottom bunk. Blake sailed out from under the top bunk and waited to see if it would collapse. She watched the books compress with Yang's weight and when they still seemed stable, she cautiously moved back under the bunk.
"Jumpy Miss Kitty?" Yang smirked as she leaned over the edge to at her. Blake scowled back in response.
"Sorry, I don't wish to be squished. Don't call me that." She crossed her arms, ears folding back under her bow. She paused before she reached up and pulled it off with a relieved sigh.
~~~~~
Ruby stood on the cliff overlooking the Emerald Forest. She was waiting for Tan to show up. It was brisk, but she wasn't concerned. The Ichor did an excellent job of making her numb to temperatures and she was usually comfortable at all times because of it.
She'd been there a while, in part admiring the view. She had made it into Beacon. She wondered if Ozpin even knew; she didn't put it past him that he knew who they all were. There was no way for him not to know who she was but no reason to suspect she was evil.
It probably wasn't the best idea to be summoning a massively impressive Grimm to the school in that case. She felt, though in this case, that she had no choice. Tan would arrive when he did and would report to Salem about their successful admittance to the school.
"Miss Rose." She didn't end up jumping off the cliff but it was certainly a close call. She turned around to look at Professor Ozpin, an apologetic look on his face. "My apologies, I suppose." He only sounded mildly ashamed.
"Professor Ozpin, what can I do for you?" She asked as she turned back to look over the forest. Ozpin moved to stand beside her.
"You've been here a while. Is something on your mind?"
Ruby let out a short breath as she looked at the dark forest. Somewhere far below a Beowolf howled.
"Nothing too important, I guess, just the regular things, how I'll do as a leader, how my team will get along… How my studies will go." She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly and Ozpin chuckled softly.
"That is quite understandable, Miss Rose. Just don't stay out too long." He turned to leave as Ruby gave a soft affirmative, continuing his rounds around the school grounds.
There was the faintest of chirps by Ruby's heel and she turned back to see Tanwen peaking over the cliff edge. She crouched down and petted her Grimm. She sometimes found it odd that she was rubbing an extension of herself, especially when she could feel her hand ghosting through her hair. She shook off the feeling and gave the message to her Grimm. She straightened like she'd been fixing her shoe and listened to the Beowolves sing for a few more minutes before she returned to her dorm.
~~~~~
Yang sighed as she stared at the red sky above her. A fierce scowl was on her brow as she got lost in her thoughts. How on Remnant were they supposed to slip into Beacon? It wasn't like they were normal girls that could transfer into the school. Neither she nor Ruby were in a pre-combat school and it wasn't hard to mistake either of them as Taiyang's kids, that would kick up who knew how many questions.
Mistral was bad enough with Qrow popping up now and again looking for her. If either heard that they were in Vale, so, so close to them, there would be no stopping them from popping up and ruining their plans.
She let out a heavy breath. Cinder and her lost puppies should have been doing this. Unfortunately, she knew precisely why they had to go to Beacon. It didn't make her any happier about the situation though.
She reached into the small compartment in Ember Celica. She had some Lien and other things in each one, enough to do as she needed. She also had a few sticks that Summer would heavily disapprove of.
She activated her semblance and held the stick to her hair, watching it catch and took a deep breath of the sweet smoke. She nearly sucked the cigarette down her throat when she heard a faint chuckle.
"Summer would kick your ass if she saw you smoking that." Raven smirked at her while she coughed on the smoke, her chest tight from panic.
"Don't do that to me. I nearly had a heart attack." Raven's brow went up and she held out her hand. Yang huffed before she handed it over. Her brows went up in surprise as her mother took a drag.
"Citrus, Yang?" She questioned after a moment of eyeing the innocuous tube. Yang shrugged in response.
"The other ones were rather foul." Raven chuckled as she held the cigarette back out to her daughter. She took it and had another big lungful.
"You know you won't be allowed to smoke at Beacon, right?"
Yang let out an annoyed grunt as she got reminded of that rule. "It won't matter as long as no one finds me."
Raven laughed a bit louder this time. "Take it from me. You do not want someone to see you smoking at Beacon. I still remember what happened to me and while I would find it amusing if it happened to you, you would not."
Yang's eyes slid in her direction. She didn't bother removing the cigarette. "I'm sure you'd ask for front row seats if I got caught."
"I'd probably be granted them too." She smirked at her and reached over, taking it from her lips.
"If you must smoke, just make sure Ruby doesn't take up the habit." Yang chuckled as she nodded in agreement.
"I'll do my best."
She watched Raven huff smoke from her nose and both fell into a comfortable silence.
"What has got you this stressed?" She held up the smoke as a reference. Yang let out a heavy sigh as she leaned against the castle wall.
"Beacon, of course, what else would it be? We'll be in Vale, Qrow and Dad will be there and…" she trailed off as she ran a hand through her hair. She paused for a moment as she felt the heat. A sigh escaped her lips before she deactivated her semblance.
"And you're worried they will come running if they hear you and Ruby are in town." It wasn't a question but Yang nodded anyway. It would be awkward to run across the two of them as Ruby and Yang had technically run away and quite possibly soul destroyed the both of them.
"It'll lead to many problems." She huffed a breath, arms crossing as she frowned at the sky again. "Ruby doesn't need that trouble and neither Dad nor Qrow should deal with that pain." She reached over, plucking the smoke from Raven's fingers and scowled at how little remained.
"Perhaps..." Raven said after a moment as she looked up at the sky; it was a bit darker than usual, signifying night or what passed as night. "Maybe they would be happy to know you're both alive."
"Yeah and working for their enemy." Yang snorted as she shook her head. "If that situation happens, I have no clue what to do. Do we cut and run? They'd head straight to Beacon even if we lost them and we'd be exposed. We can't kill them." Raven's head snapped to look at her child and she was relieved to know that that wasn't on the table. Yang let out a long and heavy sigh. She ground the cigarette out on her gauntlet and slid it back into the compartment.
Raven was still looking at her, watching her consider taking another one out. She reached over and decided for her.
"Light." She held the cigarette to Yang's hair and got an amused snort from her. A moment later, her hair glowed and then went out. They stood in silence, passing the citrus cigarette back and forth between them. Raven broke the silence.
"Yang, I cannot tell you what will happen or what you should do. Changing your identities is more hassle than it's worth and running might be your only option if it comes down to being exposed. There will always be more missions in the future and while you may have to bear Salem's wrath, you can always make it up to her." Yang looked at her mother as she spoke, considering her words as she nodded slowly.
"I can see your point, though, in all honesty, I would rather avoid her wrath entirely." Raven chuckled softly in agreement as she handed the cigarette to Yang to finish it.
"I guess the best you can do is your best, get what you need, as fast as you possibly can. Learn what you can from there as well, although the first year should be easy for you." She turned dark red eyes on her, the message clear. "You're only going to be hunting down all the active hunters in Vale."
"That will include Dad and Qrow…"
"That's if they're in Vale. Patch won't be necessary."
Yang nodded as she let out the smoke she was holding and stubbed out the cigarette. "If only we could bring them to our side."
I would just like to say that I aim for the 21st of every month, but time means absolutely nothing to me so I miss it nearly every single time.
Right so, a bit of info for you guys that don't get the line breaks, I use the app to update my work as I don't have access to a computer. The app line breaks are, apparently, incompatible with computers.
As always a big thank you to Scooter and Zenlord22 for beta-ing this for me.
The next chapter may be delayed as I'm heading away to the mainland for a few days. Yay small mercies.
Till the next time.