Chapter One

-X- -X-

The rumble of her motorcycle failed to still her thoughts as it usually did and Yang Xiao-Long frowned as she heard a distant voice tell her to pull over. Weiss, maybe?

Ruby smiled as she stepped off their make-shift trailer first and she felt a twinge of embarrassment at failing to identify her own sister's voice.

"You okay?" From off to her side Blake's warm tones met her ears and a weary smile dragged itself to the fore.

"I'm fine." She sighed, casually slipping off her riding gloves and brushing a thick golden lock behind her ear.

Earlier the other girl had been saying something about protecting her, that she needed saving, yet as she watched the black-haired girl step past she found it strange just how disgusting the thought was. She'd always been self-sufficient; when Summer left she'd been the one to pull them all together after all and even when their dad seemed to change she'd kept Ruby on track without dropping her own workload – she'd never needed to rely on anyone and the thought that she had to be protected like some wallflower was actually… Kind of insulting.

"Just fine." She repeated for her own sake, trying to force herself to forgive her even if only in her own mind. "Just trying to… digest it all, y'know?"

Her gaze wandered as Weiss stepped past and she wondered how the heiress could be so well-maintained at a time like this - personally she felt like collapsing yet the white-haired girl still somehow managed to keep up that prim and proper air of hers.

Of course, Ruby seemed entirely unaffected by what they'd just gone through. She'd have to be blind not to notice the initial shaky despair lining her shoulders since they'd left but something told her to stay away and she hadn't gotten where she was without obeying her instincts and, sure enough, the redhead's sadness seemed to have steadily disappeared as she sat there until, finally, she'd been back to the bright and cheery girl that Yang was used to.

"Well…" Blake looked away, cute cat ears twitching in a way she'd come to learn they did when she was embarrassed. "…I'm here if you need me." She smiled slightly and Yang quickly returned the expression even as she turned away, a faint hint of her earlier frustration rising to the fore.

"So she's the one, huh?" She stiffened for a moment yet years of having to deal with so many mistakes dulled her scorn somewhat. Ozpin had made a great many mistakes and her uncle was just as much a victim of his machinations as they were, if not more so.

She lost herself in her thoughts for a second and the older Huntsman seemed content to let her remain so for the time being. "I'm not sure what you mean." She finally spoke.

"Yeah, I see you and cat-girl over there making goo-goo eyes at each other. Thought I'd seen enough of that with your father." He grumbled, drudging up the energy to affect his usual smirk even as his fingers twitched towards his flask. Qrow was clearly not fully recovered from his experience back there and she tried not to hold his impulses against him because of it.

"Is it that obvious?" She grimaced.

Qrow chuckled. "Yeah it is. Or at least I see it. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree – Tai had a thing for the type himself. I remember the first time I called him out on it. 'My mother was a great woman, I'd be lucky to fall for someone had as amazing as her!' Heh, was honestly surprised when he hooked up with Summer. Bullheaded but all soft edges, y'know?" Qrow's smirk softened into something warmer.

"His mom?" She tried to imagine her grandmother but despite their many pictures she'd never actually seen the woman before; the life of a Huntress was a busy one wrought with peril after all, so the lack of a family portrait wasn't exactly surprising. "What do you mean?"

Qrow chuckled. "Y'know, the long black hair, the intense staring, the whole 'I am strong but must be saved' thing – Raven decked Tai for that one by the way." His chuckle grew into a raspy cackle however he slowly trailed off as he noticed that she wasn't joining in. A quick glance and he raised an eyebrow. "Don't look at me like that firecracker, you Xiao-Longs are the ones with the whole Oedipus thing going on."

""Oedipus"?" The term was vaguely familiar and she grimaced in disgust as she remembered through the lingering haze of depression. Wasn't Oedipus when you wanted to... Do it with your mom? "I do not have a... Oedipus... Thing."

Normally Qrow wouldn't have let an opportunity to tease his niece drop but between the last day and the dreaded "R" word he decided that for once discretion was the better part of valour. "Sure you don't, kid." Rolling his eyes the drunk stumbled away towards a nearby bush, leaving the blonde to wrinkle her nose in disgust and pointedly head in the other direction.

"Stupid uncle, doesn't know what he's talking about." She mumbled to herself, frowning as she tried to push his words out of her head. Sure, Blake and her mom-Raven, that is, not… Her. Sure, Blake and Raven may have looked a little alike but that was where the similarities ended. Raven had left when she needed her and Blake-

She froze, forcefully pushing down the familiar stirrings of anger. It was different, what had happened with Blake. She hadn't-

A powerful hand struck wood and she was surprised to find she'd stumbled, fingers brushing against cold bark. Perhaps their experience in the barn had affected her physically, more so than she'd thought? It didn't matter, it was over now and she huffed as she shook free the re-emerging cobwebs. "They're not alike." She told herself, brow furrowing.

Although-

"They're not." Blake was a great friend and an amazing partner; strong, beautiful and smart, she knew where she was going now and meanwhile her mother… Qrow had an image of her standing by the rest of her team didn't he? Had she been a great friend to dad? Or an amazing partner? Who was who on that team anyway, she'd never asked who was partnered with who on that team before had she?

Blake was just like her mother.

The thought permeated and she felt a brief sting as she thought about the times the faunus had left their team, going off on her own just like she had. Though, hadn't Ruby done the same?

"She did the same." She nodded decisively as if to convince herself. Ruby ran off all the time, just like Raven-

No, not like Raven. Like Summer. The aching pang of worry dug into her gut and she growled as she slammed a fist into the tree, wincing at the resulting tremor.

"Yang?" She froze once more, swallowing as she looked up. "Uh, you okay?" Ruby smiled awkwardly, all dimples and worry. She'd always taken after Summer like that hadn't she? Not a trace of her father in her.

Uncharitable but true; Ruby had strength in spades but it all came from Summer, as did the shimmer of concern in her eyes. She'd had never adopted their father's outspoken attitude and his tough love approach was a part of that she'd learned well after losing her arm.

Summer's smile, her eyes and her nose, her hair and everything else all the way down to that brief tremor when she thought something was wrong - she'd only seen it from the woman once and even after Taiyang had comforted her she'd never wanted to see it again.

"I'm fine." She said briskly yet she surprised herself as she instinctively stepped in to wrap the other girl in a protective hold, arms crossing her back to hug her tight to her taller, fuller frame. "Just thinking about some stuff." She murmured.

"O-Oh." Ruby looked up at her, concern still written across her face and before she could think she was reenacting an old scene she could barely remember, hands sliding across her back in a comforting motion as she craned her neck forward, nuzzling the smaller girl as she met her eyes though the effect was ruined slightly by the pure panic that no doubt was reflected upon her face. "Uh, w-what are you doing?" Ruby squeaked.

Yang let out a noise somewhere between a low groan and a high-pitched yelp before she could stop herself. "I… Don't know?" She twitched. "I- Ah, I just saw dad do this once and I did it without thinking."

Neither girl quite knew what to do in the awkward situation until, much to Yang's relief, Ruby's face began to edge more towards amusement than worry, a short giggle of laughter escaping as she pulled back. "You dork." She snorted. "You're lucky I came back instead of Weiss or you'd be frozen right now."

"Y-Yeah, right." She nodded, looking away again and hoping the younger girl didn't notice how nervous she was. "Hey, could you, ah, go on ahead for a sec Rubes? I'll catch up, I swear."

Ruby examined her for a moment and gave a slow nod, tilting her head in confusion as she did so. "Well… Alright. But don't fall behind or I'm coming back for you." She 'threatened', meeting the blonde's bemused smirk with a guileless grin. "See you in a minute!"

Had a surge of energy emerged at some point when she wasn't looking? Sometimes she wondered how Ruby could be so hyperactive yet this time as the redhead dashed off Yang merely buried her face in her hands, groaning as she ruminated on what she'd just learnt.

Did step-moms even count as a 'Oedipus thing'?

-X- -X-

An hour passed all too quickly and the crackle of the campfire they'd lit failed to distract her from her problems, nor did the warmth cure the chill that ran down her spine.

Yang had never felt a 'cold chill' before a year ago; for someone as confident and hot-blooded as her she'd never even imagined before then that she even could. The last time she'd felt this way she was waking up in a hospital ward, surrounded by injured people and staring down at the bandaged stump of her right arm.

This… Wasn't quite as bad as that. At least she could pretend things were fine, something that was hard to do when you were missing an entire limb.

Cool fingers brushed against her own and she jerked away sharply, wide amethyst eyes darting over to take in a brief flash of hurt across a pale face. Everyone on her team was pale though, weren't they? She'd never thought of how weird that was... Maybe she should get a tan? Ice princess definitely couldn't. "Sorry." Out loud the word sounded stupid yet Blake didn't seem to mind, nodding quietly as she reached out again. "I should get some firewood."

As she stood she saw that same hurt but she just didn't have time for this drama right now, she had her own issues to deal with. "I… Okay then." Blake whispered.

She knew what she wanted and on any other day Yang would have offered the girl the chance to come along. When she looked down at her however all she could see was feathery strands and red irises and instead she found herself scowling before she could stop herself, hurriedly stomping off into the forest.

Across the campfire Qrow followed her with a dull gaze, slowly shaking his head. "Kids."

Once she was far enough away Yang found the thickest tree she could find and threw a punch, hissing as the dull crack that resulted did nothing to calm her down. A sharp hook and shards of bark flew sharply to the side, another and a crater of wood was carved away.

Her eyes flickered a violent red and with a scream of anguish Yang tossed a straight right into the crater, jolting as the trunk became forcibly displaced, toppling across the grass with a resounding crash.

Her shoulders heaved as she stared down at the jagged stump that remained and it was only the shifting of the wind that warned her that something was wrong.

A vicious strike confirmed her sudden suspicion, catching her across the shoulder and she gasped as sparks flew from her aura, the attack surprising her more than hurting.

She rolled with the blow and the sound of dirt displacing warned her of her enemy's next move. She roared as she spun on her heel, counting on the strength of her prosthetic to account for the lack of balance and sure enough the bone mask of her foe crumpled beneath her fist, a splash of black liquid spraying across her jacket.

Her eyes were keen and she saw the next threat lurking in the shadow of the first and her next strike caught it just as suddenly as the other and she scowled as she finished dispatching the Ursa, watching the corpses dissolve with distaste.

Metal fingers came to her jacket and face fell as she felt the three thick tears through the fabric covering her chest, quickly reaching up to remove the article in question.

"Yang, are you okay!?" A crimson blur dashed across the forest floor and Yang flinched, gritting her teeth as it came to an abrupt halt feet away, wide silver eyes staring up at her in concern. "We heard- Well, we felt something happen and I got worried." She hurriedly explained, no doubt misconstruing the frustration written across her face.

"I'm fine." Despite her words the blonde couldn't quite dredge up the energy to act her usual self and she sighed as the worry on Ruby's face only intensified. "Seriously, sis, I… I'm alright."

Ruby's gaze swept across the clearing, taking in the shattered trunk and broken branches littering the forest floor. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah." She leaned against a nearby tree and a dull sigh escaped as she watched her sister's face morph from doubt to worry to doubt before finally settling between the two. When the younger girl got like this she'd never let anything go and so, reluctantly, Yang tried to explain. "I just… I thought me and Blake were going somewhere. I-I don't know where but somewhere."

"O… Kay." Ruby frowned, brow furrowing a she tried to parse the blonde's words. "You and Blake? That… That's great! Really keepin' it in the team, huh? I'm not really into girls so I'm not sure exactly what I should say here, Yang. Go for it? Or- Or don't! I-"

Yang pinched the bridge of her nose as the younger girl stuttered away and she waved a dismissive hand in response. "That's not it, Rubes. I just… I thought I liked her but I'm starting to realize that I kinda don't?" Her hands fell to her sides and she grimaced. "I mean maybe I don't. I don't know."

"Oh. Well…" Ruby shuffled on the spot, rubbing at the back of her neck. "What do you like about Blake? Er, what did you like about Blake?"

"I guess… She reminds me of my mom." She cringed as she saw her sister do the same and slowly nodded. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Uncle Qrow pointed it out and ever since it's all I can think about."

Ruby nodded absently, rubbing at her chin in a way she no doubt thought made her look more intelligent and Yang stifled a chuckle. "Well if you realized that and you don't like her like that then there's nothing you can really do, Yang. Why beat yourself up over it, it's not like you were already dating, were you?" She paused, eyes narrowing. "Were you?"

"No, no, no secrets here. I just guess I'm a little squicked out, y'know? One minute we're holding hands and I'm thinking how cute she is and the next I realize I have a thing for-" She froze, lips pursing as she realized what she was about to say. "-hair. A thing for hair."

"Hair, huh?" Ruby twiddled with her own short crimson locks, a considering look crossing her face. "Well, I guess that's not too surprising, all things considered."

Yang chuckled. "Yeah, totally not surprising. Guess I'm just being silly, huh?"

"Just a little." Ruby offered a teasing smile, reaching out to grab her sister by the hand. "C'mon, let's go back to camp. This'll all go away in time." She comforted.

Yang glanced down at their joined hands as the smaller girl pulled her along, a tinge of pink crossing her cheeks. "I hope you're right."