Ruby blinked a few times, trying to get the rest of the dust out of her eyes, because she couldn't be seeing this. It wasn't possible that it was the same person that had gone into that weird room. IT couldn't really have been a year for her, could it? Her silver eyes examined what she believed to be her sister.

Her long mane of yellow hair longer than it was before, and it was matted and unkempt, as though it had not been maintained very well for an extended period of time. Indeed the beauty that had earned her such acclaim back in Veil had been diminished almost to the point of non-existence, despite her figure being somewhat more pronounced. Her voice was not the same either, it was harder, deeper and slightly raspy. She now had a sense of worldliness, of strength and experience, to match her taller and beefier physique. Her power must have increase too, given how much Tyrian was squawking and pleading for release. His flinched when his bloodshot eyes found Yang's cold red ones.

"Release me you bitch!" Thundered the Faunus, his voice shrill and insane in rage and pain. Thrusting blindly with his blades, he managed to lodge one in the arm holding him. Yang's gaze intensified, the eyelids receding into a stare that betrayed anger and disgust, and her grip on the faunus' hair tightened. His pain and protest doubled as the faunus was hoisted up in the air by his long plat. Looking down, Yang saw that Weiss was staring at her, the blue eyes wide with wonder and confusion. The first thing that she noticed was that the scar beneath Weiss' eye no longer looked so out of place. The fair skin was now littered with small cuts and the skin beneath the right eye was raised and purple. Her expression softened, and while no greeting smile lit the face the eyes became more relaxed and concerned, indicative that her soul remained even if she looked different. This made the heiress' expression soften in turn, before turning bright red in indignation.

"I-No! I didn't need help, I was doing just fi-" Weiss began, but Yang interrupted her, the red eyes now back on Tyrian, and all the more alive with malice for it.

"Back off now." Said Yang with a slight edge to her voice, but Weis didn't move. Yang sounded relaxed, surprisingly relaxed given that she had a blade twisting in her arm, but there was a commanding base in her voice that made Weiss nervous. She felt like she didn't know who she was talking to very well, a year alone with Vegeta had changed her physically, so she was almost beyond recognising.

"Why?" The heiress posed the question, allowing her voice to break a bit, as the red eyes that turned on her did not soften at all. She couldn't bring herself to reply to what she heard next.

"I'm going to finish this freak. You'll get hurt if you're too close."

Ruby was half a step closer to her sister when she jumped back, in reaction to a long shadow being cast by the thing that slammed into the stone a split second later. The tendril hit the rock so hard that it sunk a few inches into it before coiling back to its mistress. Blake impulsively placed her hand in front of Ruby to stop her moving forward, in case of further attacks. Her amber eyes were narrow and alert; fixed on Seer , but Salem wasn't looking at her. Her gaze had widened at the sudden arrivals, as well as the sudden flare of strength from the Saiyan in her clutches. It had appeared for a brief second, that Goku's hair and body had been covered in a golden aura. At the same moment, Salem had felt a palpable sense of heat, anger, and fear. She recoiled in her chair in spite of herself, unable to describe why.

Goku had slumped to the ground, bearing his teeth in both pain and anger. He had done it again, even though he was trying as hard as he could to keep his power level from going over that line. He could not become a super Saiyan, if he did, he would be hard pressed to resist permanently cancelling his retirement from being a fighter. He was fortunate that the switch was not as sensitive as it once was. In his heyday, transforming was simple as breathing, but over time and due to serious neglect, his ability to reach that form had become rusty. But fighting onve more had awoken his instincts, and it was by instinct that he achieved the form to begin with. If he managed to push himself too far...he did not want to be tempted. True he had broken his promise to his wife about raising his fists to anyone ever again, but the idea of surrendering to that power, of becoming the embodiment of Saiyan strength…it would be the ultimate insult.

Raising his head, the thought suddenly shot back into Goku's mind. 'WEISS!' He looked over In panic to see if the princess was alright, and forgot his pain for a moment. It was not so much what he saw that shocked him…it was what he could feel. Yang had been strong before, far stronger than any human should be. But never since his friends Krillin or Tien had Goku sensed this kind of power from a human. It was almost like he could see the strength pouring out of her, as if she was giving off burning heat.

A black tendril of Seer flew into the air. It tensed for a moment like a snake frozen in mid-air, and then shot straight at the blonde huntress, its long barbed end aimed at the side of Yangs body that was undefended. The long limbs were silent, and Yang didn't look around to see them approach. 'No!' cried Ruby and Blake in unison. 'Yang, watch out!' screamed, pointing behind her back. None of the others could feel what he could, but Goku alone braced himself. He couldn't tell what, he just knew that it was going to be…big. And just at the point of contact, just as the barb was about to pierce the stub of an arm, Yang Xiao Long burst into flames.

Ruby screamed, Blake covered her eyes with one arm, while still using her other to hold Ruby back. Seer 's body began to recoil from the heat and light, shuddering so violently that the pedestal overbalanced and tipped over onto its side. Weiss had no recourse but to crawl away as fast as she could, looking up in numb horror as her team mate stood there in the centre of a gilded aura, an inferno of bright shimmering gold. The vague outline of a human female could still be discerned from the myriad tongues of flame licking Yang's body, that and of course the writhing and squawking shape that was Tyrian. His threats had become completely incoherent now that the fire was adding to his pain, while Yang appeared shockingly unperturbed by it, she stood straight backed and powerful, still holding Tyrian's hair like some great fire-proof plinth.

It did not sound like normal fire, nor did they move like traditional flames. They were angry and consistent in movement, and making no attempts to spread. For a moment, Weiss was visited by the absurd notion that the flames were obeying Yang, not spreading further than she wished for fear of hurting her friends. Weiss, as frightened and impressed as she was couldn't muster the concentration to sense it, but Goku could feel what was coursing through Yangs body, and it made his insides writhe with worry. The girl had more energy than any human he had ever seen, and yet he could tell she was still holding back. she had learned to hide her power and bring it out in short bursts. From a child who was so quick to temper, he had never expected her to grasp energy manipulation so well, and this fire was more than mere energy, he could sense that. He looked intently at the aura surrounding the young woman, it did resemble something he had seen before...But where?

There was a loud thump, the sound of a body hitting the ground, and the large fiery presence became two. A second figure adorn with flames had broken away from the larger figure and had began to stagger away, flapping it's arms like a bird. It was clear that Tyrian had been released, as to whether his hair had been released or simply burned away was still unknown. Blind, delirious with pain and still screaming in agony, Tyrian collapsed to the ground in front of a spellbound and horrified Ruby, and began to roll back and forth on the stone floor in an attempt to put himself out. Blake took one large step away from the huddle that was Tyrian and reached for her weapon, which was sitting in the sheathe affixed to her back.

Ruby found that her legs had decided for her, whether to run or not and the burning man on the floor was beginning to crawl forward. Despite all of Blake's tugging and protest, Ruby found herself standing perfectly still as the blackened form stopped about an arms length from her and began to reach. Whether out of pain or confusion, desperation or murderous intent, Ruby never found out. The moaning blackened form only had a second of reaching time before the very sun itself decided it was time to die. Yang had appeared over him so fast, it would have appeared to untrained eyes that she had simply blinked in existence. Goku could tell that she had just used her energy to enhance her movement, but that was just about all he knew. Her energy was something like the technique of a fighter he had met in the other world, Pikkon, a warrior that fought with flame...but this was different.

Yang's fist closed for a second time around Tyrian's head. The only difference was that now the body was limp and devoid of all resistance. As his feet left the floor, the golden flames receded to the point where Yang's normal body was visible, merely bordered with a golden aura of that unnatural fire. The look of repulsion had only intensified as the huntress looked upon her work, at the charred flesh of the mad faunus. She turned to look at Goku, she started slightly at the bloody state of his arms and legs.

"Hey, Goku! A-are you okay?!" she shouted over towards the wounded Saiyan, you answered with a simple thumbs up. Yang's face relaxed slightly at this affirmation. "Listen! This guy is still alive, but he's gonna need medical attention! That Buu guy can cure burns and broken bones, right!?"

Before Goku could even begin to answer, A loud scraping noise distracted him, and looking around, he saw Seer pulling itself back into a levitating position. The pedestal was turned around, and yet Goku could still see the face within. While it appalled him to see that she was not at all affronted at the maiming of her only remaining ally, he couldn't help but feel impressed at her total lack of fear. The marble smooth features were completely impassive and controlled, staring at the newcomer with polite interest.

"He's done" Yang muttered, and with one final sneer at Tyrian, and an uninterested glance at Seer , she threw the prone body with tremendous force towards the castle. He hit the wall with a horrible crash, and similar to the way Salem had pinned Goku, The ex-scorpion man was embedded in the stone, unconscious. Turning back to Goku and that weird floating octopus thingy, Yang saw Goku straining to hold back a huge black spike inches from his face, his hands on either side of it, slipping slowly off due to the clear liquid seeping from some unknown source. Salem's attention was now back on Goku. Seer 's pedestal drifted closer towards the struggling Saiyan, the white face shimmering with malice.

"Hey!" Yang took several steps towards Seer , her golden halo of energy glowing once more. "Get off him, why don't you idiots pick on someone your own size, instead of defenceless old men!" Salem's open mouth closed, and the white face turned to face Yang. The sun was catching the glass from this distance, so Yang couldn't see the imperious features within, or the patronising look in the black eyes.

"You and your friends seem to be labouring under the delusion that you have some kind of advantage. Allow me to correct you. The three beside you expended their aura fighting the peons I brought with me, and this old man is past his prime and in no state to harm me."

The soft voice was barely raised, yet it carried far more than it should have naturally. Yang felt as if the words had been whispered in her ear. All of a sudden, for the second time in her life, Yang began to feel a chill in the air, an indescribable sense of dread emanating from that jellyfish looking thingy. Vegeta was right, evil energy did feel different.

Through the pain and dread of what that barb would do to his face, Goku felt a small pang of annoyance in his stomach. 'Defenceless old man?!' But then he caught sight of Yang's face as it became clearer. She was walking swiftly his way, and she was smiling. There eyes met and the smile broadened, and Goku realised that he had seen that smile before. It was exceedingly similar to the look on Vegeta's face when contemplating an outmatched foe. Salem opened her mouth to speak again, but Yang spoke first.

"Its a shame you aren't anywhere near as powerful as you think you are. Its obvious that all I need to do is avoid those spikes and attack the video phone." She had stopped walking about ten feet away from Salem, and the smile was still wide and mocking on Yang's face. The aura around her was also beginning to get excited, it was no longer a subtle tint around her form, but dancing flames once more. Salem began to laugh softly.

"You may have observed a few primitive attacks child, but I have full knowledge of your abilities." A long black tendril moved between the two women and brandished its sting. "This liquid allows me to delve into the minds of whoever touches it. Through it, I have learned your Saiyan friend's techniques, as well as all the abilities of your friends. I have studied you very thoroughly."

"Oh is that right? Then why were you so turned off when I cooked your faunus?" said Yang, subtle hints of spiteful laughter punctuating her own speech now. "Thing is, powered up grimm like that don't like the heat and light, do they? Why do you think they backed off when I showed up, and when he showed his true nature?"

Yang was pointing at Goku, and it was as if understanding travelled like energy between them. Goku knew that Yang knew about super Saiyan's. Her ability to observe her opponent had also increased dramatically. But would it be enough? Ruby and Blake were still gaping at Yang, impressed by her total lack of fear in the face of such a disgusting threat. But Weiss was now seeing beyond what her eyes could deduce, now that she had calmed down, she could again utilise the skill of sensing a persons life energy. This allowed her to see the scene before her as Goku had seen it before, she could see and feel the power coursing through both the pedestal and her friend. It was hard to tell who was stronger, Goku hadn't taught her how to do that yet, but something about Yang's...

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The ground beneath Goku's feet began to shake as fire burst forth from Yang's body, given life by her cry. The tongues of flame changed once more, coiling around their masters body, as if to protect her. Goku's breath caught in his chest, and he struggled not to smile in wonder at what he was looking at. He recognised this technique now. The thought of it wasn't exactly happy, but it still gave him great nostalgia to see it used by someone so powerful. This energy coating technique was what that other Saiyan that had come to earth with Vegeta had used to fight both him an Tien. The energy would burn the users surroundings while leaving the user unharmed. It worked as both a weapon and a shield. An old child like enthusiasm, long suppressed, now pounding in his chest, Goku managed to throw off the tendril and jump back to a safe distance on top of the lookout, all the better to watch.

Salem too was staring at this new sight, not in excitement, but in fear. It was not a pleasant sight to behold. The girls body was a pier of pure yellow fire, travelling ever upwards in long spikes of friction energy. However, a pure red outline of the girl within could be made out. The features were obscured by the fire, leaving them black, but you could still make out the eyes, diagonal in fury, as red as a blood moon. The hellish silhouette took a single step, and at once Salem felt the pedestal recoil, the tendrils were drawing back toward it, even her own Seer in front of her throne was fidgeting uncomfortably. She could not make them move, not one tendril wanted to be anywhere near that kind of heat energy. The witch struggled to think of a solution as the silhouette drew ever closer, her hand now bawled into a hammer like fist.

The black eyes flew to the three girls over by the edge of the lookout, and within nanoseconds of her wish for it to be done, one of Seer s tentacles shot in the direction of the faunus. Even if she didn't know any of this flame girls weaknesses, she might make a useful hostage. But the tendril that was intended for the rooted faunus found itself trapped beneath the heel of a boot. Not a brown boot, adorn with fire, a small and red booted foot was pressing the black arm into the stone floor, the heel on the spine. Ruby Rose stood on top of the dark limb, her cloak flying out behind her, the Crescent Rose glinting threateningly in her hand.

Once again, Blake was struck dumb. She could have sworn that Ruby had been behind her, she still had her arms raised. Not only had she managed to get around Blake completely unseen, she had also managed to regain her weapon. Ruby's semblance of speed was well documented, but Blake had assumed that Ruby's aura had been used up by the fusion, and there was no way she could move that fast regularly. Then something else skipped through her mind, she was still a little dazed from the shock of her ear loss, and the strain of the fusion, so it was possible tat she imagined it, but for a split second, she could have sworn that Ruby had muttered something an instant before the barb had been inches away. In a rapid flourish of red, the scythe regressed to the rifle, the barrel poised to fire directly between the slowly widening black eyes. There was a loud bang, a flash of silver, and the whole pedestal shivered from the shell casing embedded in the glass.

"YANG, THATS THE WEAK POINT! GET IT!"

Yang hesitated for a single second, her shoulders squared, her eyes set. Then she took off, flying at Seer with the speed of a missile, her feet not touching the floor, she shot along like a great yellow jet ski. Three of the tendrils shot forward in her direction, without the fire, their target was quite unprotected. But they could not account for her speed, and as she weaved within the first two and punched the third out of the way, it was clear that though the hell fire was gone, the remaining yellow aura was enough to at least weaken the tendrils. They recovered quickly, wheeling around and approaching the huntress from below. Yang dodged the first again, and used her right leg to kick the second off course.

The third she dodged also, but only to the point where it could not curl around and stab her, then she grabbed hold of the slippery blackness. Goku was impressed at her sure grip on that strange material, that had stumped even him. The tendril struggled and writhed like Tyrian had done, but to no avail like before, and the huntress did not let go. Instead, she wound up a handful of slack on the great tentacle, and pulled with all of her might, looking down on the pedestal. If she could get it in the air, she would not have to hold back. But the pedestal did not move, it shook slightly with the movement of its limb, but otherwise remained stationary. Yang was shocked by this, and as she looked closer at the black floating mass, her eyes widened at what was happening to it, for the pedestal itself was starting to glow.

Not the bright kind of fire that Yang had blinded the lookout with moments earlier, this fire was burning cold, black and eerie. At the same moment that she had noticed this, the tendril gave an almighty tug on Yangs arm and she went pelting towards the ground. She hit the stone with a crash and a cloud of smoke. The shudder that shook the lookout temporarily dislodged Ruby's foot from the tendril in the stone beneath her, and that was all it needed. In a flurry of black and white, the tendril was free and bearing down on Ruby like a wolf. The second boot to hit it was brown and shabby, it was Goku. Without a moments explanation, he grabbed hold of Ruby and Weiss' shoulders and...they were gone.

The tendril looked, as if the barb was the head of a hydra, from side to side looking for its prey. Salem looked over at the empty space with mild disappointment. She had really wanted to learn about, and kill that one. She seemed to have uncommon control over her aura for such a young...

The thought was interrupted by a sudden pressure on one of the tendrils on Seer . The extended one that had pulled the blonde to the ground. It was still taut and stretched, as if still being pulled. The smoke had cleared and Yang Xiao Long was revealed, she was on her feet and still holding the tendril that had pulled her down. Her grip had slipped slightly, now gripping the solid spine.

A blurred and distorted image swam before Salem's eyes. Perhaps it was due to the tight, almost breaking point grip that the girl had on Seer , but the flashing colours and shapes bared practically no resemblance to the images extracted from the Saiyan. The abstract shapes suddenly stopped moving and instead, turned the colour of sunlight. It was strange, the beads of light appeared to be travelling very fast in a single direction. The image swam for a few seconds longer, and then it vanished, as the tendril was severed. A Karate chop with the force of a jet engine had sliced through Seer like butter, and looking up at the girl, Salem saw why. Yang was not holding Seer in her hand anymore, and the severed spine had vanished after being dropped on the cracked floor, in the wake of a ball of glowing fire.

Yang held up the orb of glowing light, pointing it at Seer , who raised its tentacles in defence, quite independent of Salem's control now, she was content to sit back and watch all this pan out. The red eyes flitted towards the place where the remaining members of team RWBY had been, and exhaled when she saw that they were gone. It meant she didn't have to hold anything back now, this meant she had the element of surprise. Losing patience at last, Salem cried out for Seer to attack, and the grimm obeyed with a single tendril aimed directly at the huntress' gut. She laughed in triumph as the barb found its mark...and passed right through it. The face that had been so calm for the majority of this encounter suddenly creased into a frown as the blonde girl before it shimmered and vanished into thin air. What was going on?

"We aren't playing hide and seek, child!" Salem shouted to the empty lookout. "Seer grants me 360 degrees of visibility. You cannot hide from me, nor can you catch me by surprise."

"SURPRISE~!"

In the wake of the exclamation from the heavens, came a series of excruciating burning pains on Seer 's tentacles, beneath a blinding golden light. Yang was above Seer , the golden fire in her hands now expanded to encompass her whole hand and splitting off into individual beads of light that were shooting like bullets at Seer. Salem could feel Seer 's limbs being disintegrated one by one under this monsoon of flame. Salem knew she had to do something, or her grimm would be destroyed entirely, but the dust and bright lights were so wide, so all-consuming, that she could not tell which way was up. That is, until the dust cleared and the pain ceased.

Yang had used the distraction to try for a frontal assault, but had misjudged her trajectory. She now stood with her fist inches from the crystal reflection of Salem's face. Two tendrils pressed against her chest, preventing her progress. The force of the thrust had however, been so powerful, that several of the cracks from Ruby's shell had spread. Salem was sure that her grimm was in no fit state to survive contact with it. Even so, she allowed her body to relax, a moments panic had made her stupidly afraid. She had the girl restrained and with this better grip, she was getting a much better view of what that memory from before was.

The girl was standing as Salem knew her, but looking much more worn out than she was at present. At least that's what Salem thought she was looking at, the bright light emanating from the girl's hand, fighting off a much larger light coming from the opposite direction. The two beams of light were locked in a collision, each trying to consume the other. Through the dense light, Salem thought she could see another figure on the other side of the light, but the shadowy human figure was too obscure to make out. Salem felt an odd sense of familiarity with that figure, and even though she didn't know who it was...she knew that she wanted them to win this.

It seemed to be happening, whoever that person was, their light was far bigger than Yang's, it was bearing down on her and her own was beginning to flicker and shudder angrily, like a candle about to be put out by the wind. Yang, hunched over with her only arm raised, bellowed something that Salem could not hear over the wind and light, and the larger light bead was the one that flickered and shuddered. A second later Yang's body ignited, she was screaming and burning and concentrating all of her mind, all of her soul on forcing that flame right back towards that shadowy figure. The opposing light flinched...and was devoured in fire. Salem did not see who that opponent had been, but she knew. She...knew.

Yang's fist collided with one of the tendrils within inches of the pedestal and began to struggle to get closer. Salem came back to earth and with a fury yet unseen by Yang, she drew a barb very close to her eye and spoke very slowly in a voice of cold, murderous, venom.

"What did you do to it?"

Yang continued to struggle, but smiled cruelly "Where's what? Your scorpion friend is simmering nicely, and Ruby probably killed the other one, shame really. I would have liked to do it myself."

Salem gave a particularly violent gesture and three more tendrils came dangerously close to Yang's skin. The aloof voice was gone, now Salem raged with all the strength she had. "You know damn well what I mean! Where is it!? What did you do to it?!"

The smile became more modest, but no less harsh. "I did what I had to do, and if this world has any justice, its suffering."

…

The tendrils receded, and the pedestal began to drift away slowly. Salem looked on within it, her face more corpse-like than ever, with wide eyes staring in horror at the young girl in front of her.

"It...was a child..." Salem whispered in numb disbelief. "How...how could you do that...to a child?"

Yang did not answer. There was no answer to give. She felt no remorse for what she had done, none of it had been ideal obviously, but she had no regrets. She was not going to take morality lessons from a person that made friends with genocidal faunus murderers. This was it, she had had enough. Yang raised her hand again, pointing threateningly at the pedestal with the palm stretched to its fullest width. Salem knew what it was, she had seen it in Goku's mind. Seer turned and began to make its way towards the edge of the lookout.

"DEMON SUN!"

Salem heard the fire but did not look, she knew what was coming, and she did not want to lose Seer to it. Yang, enrobed with flames, tensed her wrist and allowed a small bead of light to form in her palm. Moments later it had expanded to the size of a golf ball, then to the size of a basket ball, and finally, the orb loomed over the huntress, like a miniature sun. Yang tensed her hand and the orb began to flash gold in the centre.

"BIG BANG ATTACK!"

Salem had reached the edge but her 360 vision showed her what was coming. A vast white and golden light that had no end. It was inescapable, she knew that, Seer's tendrils were nowhere to be seen. The image of Salem's face began to blur, as did the golden light for Salem in the crystal of the other Seer. In one more shudder of burning pain, the crystal went blank, and Salem sank back in her throne, quite numb with indignation and a crushing sense of defeat. Her baby...her dear little baby...

"I think it might be safe to come out now." Goku lowered his outstretched arm and gestured for those behind him to follow, and slowly they exited the lookout. Goku went first, followed by Weiss looking worried, Blake still looking bewildered, and finally Ruby who wore an almost tearful expression. The lookout had surprisingly survived a lot of the attack, only a couple of scuff marks and craters littered the tile expanse of floor. Goku thought that Mr. Popo might even deem this acceptable. Yang was still standing, the fire now subsiding into its golden halo around her body, and then into her normal skin. The traces of the ki she had been using still lingered around in the air, though only Goku could tell.

Yang, now with her hand free, closed her eyes and allowed the aura to flicker and vanish. She then turned to her team mates. All three of them were gaping at Yang, whose expression had finally regained some of the colour that it had held before the chamber, before the attack on Beacon. First, Yang walked up to Weiss and took hold of her chin, and brought Weiss' face very close to her own. For one bizarre moment, Weiss though Yang was about to kiss her. But the lips passed her own and whispered in her ear instead.

"Nice to see you again, Ice Queen."

Weiss made a funny kind of squawk of protest and Yang drew away, a grin wide on her face. "'See', get it? We match now. Hope I can make it work like you do." Yang was pointing to the eye that she was winking with and indicating the deep scar that hung from it, matching the scar on Weiss' cheek. Her face still red , making a horrible contrast with her white hair, Weiss diverted her eyes and murmured something indecipherable, though the word 'Idiot' could be made out. Yang's smile faded slightly as she looked over her team. They wore the scars of battle, well, all except Ruby. Blake's missing ear caught her attention first, but she made no comment.

She then turned to Ruby, and placed a hand on her black and red hair. She looked down and saw that Ruby's eyes, which up to now had been so wide and horror filled became shaky and began to leak. "You're getting smaller, I swear. I might hav-" But at that exact moment, Team RWBY closed ranks into a hug, embracing Yang from all sides. The gesture was somewhat ruined by them all jumping back a split second later, gagging and covering their faces. Yang smiled apologetically. "Oh yeah, sorry about the smell. There wasn't a change of clothes in there and I'm not that good at laundry." Weiss now refused to stand near Yang, contenting herself with standing a few feet away and making furious assertions about personal hygiene.

When Yang turned to Blake, her smile vanished. This stunned Blake, she didn't really know what to say. It was an odd moment, the fact that she had only been gone for a day, and yet a years worth of moments had passed. She felt an odd kind of sympathy looking at Yang, from her now healed over arm cut off at the elbow, to her scratched and scarred face and unkempt clothes. This feeling continued as Yang took a few steps towards her, as she took Blake's chin like Weiss', and as her red eyes drew level with Blake's Yellow ones. For a moment that contained an eternity, They looked at each other, and then Yang slid her face forward...and kissed Blake deeply on the mouth.

The silence on the lookout was of stunned disbelief, all eyes were on Yang and Blake, at the closed eyes that were clearly savouring the feeling, and the wide staring eyes that were still completely nonplussed. When The two broke apart, the world seemed to regain its freedom to act. Blake half jumped, half stumbled away from Yang, her forearm covering her mouth, her whole body shaking, her eyes huge. She looked more like a cat now than ever before, crouching with two feet and one hand on the ground, her ears raised to their fullest height. The noises that were coming from her however were nothing of the feline. she was spluttering and stammering as though she had just been force fed something poisonous.

"Wh-wha-but you-but I-but-who-but when did...why?!"

Yang rubbed the back of her neck and smiled again, she could not help herself, she was not used to apologising so much. "Sorry again...its...been a while, and you're the only person here who isn't old, a dead bad guy, my sister, or..." Yang looked furtively at Weiss, and scanned her form with an embarrassed look on her face, "...too short."

At these words, Blake stood up on two legs again, and allowed her eyes and forearm to relax, though her ears still remained alert. Though seeming to be back in their usual stoic expression, Blake still a red face that gave away her own embarrassment. When she spoke, it was in a pitch much higher than what was natural for her. "Right...I see..." This seemed to satisfy Yang, and she turned back to look at the castle.

"God...you really feel the seconds go by in there. A whole year..." She stopped talking and something of the hardness returned to the face of the huntress. The look was of unpleasant recollection, everybody could tell that, even Ruby. This prompted Weiss to move a bit closer, although still holding a handkerchief to her mouth and nose. Ruby was wearing a very peculiar expression. If Blake's reaction had been like a cats, than Ruby's reaction was akin to a curious dog. Her face was painted with a look of total incomprehension, with her head cocked to one side, staring at the point where Blake's and Yang's lips had touched, even though both had moved away. Goku was looking intently at Yang, rubbing the wounds in his wrists. His voice however, was still light and excitable.

"That was some nice ki! You're a lot stronger, and still alive." He gave a short laugh while rubbing the back of his neck. " Hope Vegeta didn't give you too much of a hard time. Oh that reminds me, where's Vegeta? Its not like him to miss a fight. What happened, did he just wanna show off how he got a human through the time chamber?" For a few moments longer, Goku laughed, and only stifled his amusement when he noticed the lengthy silence spreading across the lookout, and he only stopped when Ruby spoke.

"Yang...are you okay?"

The huntress was not looking at Goku, nor was she looking at anyone else. She was staring straight at her laces, and she did not reply. Slowly, she sank to her knees and reached over, touching her stump uncomfortably. Equally as slowly, Goku knelt down and placed a hand on the girls shoulder. The Saiyan could not see the huntress' eyes beneath her hair, but when a gust of wind brushed her face clear, he was able to see those distinctive red eyes turn hollow, defeated, and almost guilty. Goku repeated, slightly softer now, but with an insistent and almost severe edge in his voice. His own face was starting to lose colour slightly.

"Yang...where is he?"