This one was from a while ago, but I forgot to upload it here until now. The prompt was "Summer survives and Tai dies and changes the events throughout the show."
Ruby lay on the coach in her living room. An article on cutting-edge Dust ammunition was open on her scroll, but she wasn't reading it. She found it hard to focus considering what her plans for the rest of the day were.
She'd been trying to read for half an hour when she heard the front door open.
"I'm home!" Yang called as she came in. Ruby immediately launched herself up from the coach to greet her sister.
She found Yang in the entryway, wiping the snow off her boots. Once they were mostly clean she took off her backpack and began brushing off the long brown jacket that she always wore. Ruby knew that her sister could have walked around in her underwear and scarcely felt the cold, but Yang was too shy to wear anything at all revealing. Her hair was the only aspect of her appearance that she took any pride in or made any effort to show off.
"Hey, sis," greeted Ruby. She waited until her sister was snow free before giving her a quick hug.
"Hi, Ruby," Yang replied. "Give me a just a minute to get ready, then we'll go." Ruby nodded in agreement.
"Hey there," called their mom as she came down the stairs to greet them. "Did you have a good time with Saphira?"
"Yeah, we had fun," replied Yang. "She mentioned that you've been giving her a hard time in class."
"Well if I don't give her a hard time, her footwork won't get any better," answered Summer in her Mom Voice.
Saphira was Yang's best friend, her only close friend besides Ruby. She was a year behind Yang at Signal, but they'd been close ever since they were little. The two had been spending a lot of time together lately since Yang was going to be leaving for Beacon in a couple of months. She'd just come back from a sleepover at Saphira's house.
After hugging her mom briefly, Yang ran upstairs to put her backpack away. She came down a minute later wearing her gauntlets.
"I'm ready to go."
"OK," said Ruby, picking up Crescent Rose from where she'd left it on the living room table. She hung the weapon from her back and walked to the front door.
"Be safe you two," Summer instructed.
"We will," the sisters agreed in unison before heading out the door.
Ruby and Yang trudged through the snowy forest of Patch together. They talked some about school, weapons, and news about big-name Huntsmen, but for the most part they walked in silence. After almost twenty minutes, they reached their destination.
Their father's gravestone sat on a cliff overlooking more of the snowy woods. The stone bore his emblem, a fiery heart, along with five words.
Taiyang Xiao Long
Burning Bright
The two girls stopped in front of the grave marker. Ruby knew that Yang needed a minute to collect her thoughts, so she went first.
"Hi Dad," she said softly. "Sorry we haven't visited in a while. School's been busy, what with exams and everything. Oh, Uncle Qrow's back in town! He said he might be able to stay for a while this time. I showed him the upgrades I made to Crescent Rose, and he was really impressed."
Ruby continued talking about whatever came to mind, waiting until her sister was ready. She missed her father, but she knew that Yang had taken his death the hardest. Ruby had only been four when it happened, but she remembered how the color had seemed to drain from her sister and never entirely return. Ever since, Ruby had been supporting Yang in any way she could, trying to be a spot of light in her life now that she didn't have either of her biological parents.
Finally, Ruby sensed that her sister was ready. She finished paying her respects and stepped back.
"Hi Dad," Yang began with a small smile. "I got into Beacon. I mean, I knew I would, but it's nice to have it in print. I'll be leaving in a couple of months. I'm excited, but I'm nervous too. There's going to be a lot more strong people at Beacon, so I'll have to work even harder to compete.
"I wish that I had had you to teach me how to fight. Everyone says that you're better at hand to hand than any of the teachers at Signal. I could have really used your help." Yang's voice was starting to crack a bit.
"I convinced Mom and Qrow to tell me more about Raven, and… I just don't get it. I don't feel like I understand her at all. They said that you brought out the best in her and that you saw more in her than anybody else did. I wish you were here to tell me about her. I miss you, Dad…"
Ruby put an arm around her sister as Yang began to sob softly. They stayed that way until Yang's tears stopped, and then they turned back towards home.
The two girls had only been walking for a few minutes when they came into a large clearing and found it full of Beowolves. The lupine Grimm stood in a loose pack, facing the sisters and snarling.
Ruby stepped forwards and drew out Crescent Rose, unfolding it into its scythe form. Behind her, Yang's gauntlets extended to cover her fists.
Seeing this display of aggression, the Beowolves charged forward. Ruby raised her weapon and fired the built-in sniper, blowing the head off one of the creatures. Behind her, Yang raised her gauntlets and began spraying submachinegun fire into the pack, taking the steam out of their charge.
As the creatures neared the girls, Ruby ran forward to meet them. The Beowolf in the lead raised a claw to swat her away, but before it could Ruby suddenly accelerated and chopped its head off with her scythe. She continued forwards, hacking limbs off of the Grimm as she ran through their ranks.
Ruby knew that she should try to let as few Grimm as possible get past her. Yang could certainly handle a few Beowolves up close, but she was better off fighting from a distance with her SMG gauntlets. Ruby's fight was made a lot easier with Yang's supporting fire crippling or picking off any Grimm that tried to flank her.
Then she heard Yang cry out.
"Oh crap!"
Ruby spun around to see another pack of Beowolves emerging from the trees behind them to charge Yang. This pack was smaller than the first, but it had caught them off guard and had nearly closed the distance to Yang.
Before Ruby could react, she was reminded of the presence of the first group of Grimm by the slash of claws across her back. Her Aura protected her from being torn to shreds, but the force of the blow knocked her off her feet.
It also activated her Semblance. Using the energy from the attack to enhance her speed, Ruby exploded into a red tornado, cutting the Beowolf that had attacked her to ribbons. She continued forwards, tearing apart more Grimm with each second until she burned off the power she had gained.
Once she had cleared some space for herself, Ruby cast another glance back at her sister. Yang was surrounded by Beowolves, but she was managing, using the creatures' own strength to toss them around. Even so, she was killing them far too slowly to hold out for long. Yang could punch the head right off a Grimm, but against so many at once she was forced to spend most of her energy defending.
Ruby ran towards her sister, cutting down any Grimm that got in her way, but the creatures were surrounding her as well, slowing her progression to a crawl.
Ruby wondered if she would have to use her eyes. With her mother's training, she had learned to activate them on command, but she'd never managed to do so without fainting afterwards, and she wasn't sure that she'd be able to take out every single Grimm.
Just as Ruby was weighing that choice, Yang threw one Beowolf into two of its pack mates, clearing some space for herself. She raised one fist and yelled to her sister.
"Watch out!"
Ruby raised her arms in front of her and focused her Aura as Yang punched the ground and activated her Semblance.
A wave of fire emanated from her, searing the Grimm around her and knocking them away. Several of the Beowolves were hurled a dozen feet into the air, while others were simply knocked off their feet. None of the creatures were left standing within twenty yards of Yang.
Standing thirty yards away with her Aura ready, Ruby was completely protected from the shockwave. It did, however, hit her just hard enough to charge her Semblance again. The cloaked girl ran like the wind, her scythe hacking Beowolves to pieces.
At the same time, Yang raised her gauntlets and began firing into the off-balance Grimm, cutting them down. Within a minute, the entire field was clear of the monsters.
The two sisters laughed as they collected themselves after the battle. Yang had the huge smile on her face that she always wore after a victory. As they turned towards home, Ruby felt confident that her sister would do fine at Beacon.