"Winter! Winter! Please, wake up!"
She was roused by tiny hands frantically shaking her bedside table, yelping at the sudden intrusion as Winter leaped up out of her bed and withdrew her concealed-
"Waah~!"
There was a sudden crash, alongside a particularly girlish squeal of surprise, as Winter frantically regained her bearings. Ah. That was right. She had gone to bed early the previous night, exhausted following a long day's work spent coordinating with Pietro. It hadn't been less than a few minutes into her downtown Atlesian apartment before Winter had practically collapsed on her bed.
"...Kanaria?"
The green-haired Rozen Maiden was currently slumped on the ground, her back against the wall and looking seemingly concussed. Were the little girl not an artificial lifeform scientifically proven to be incapable of feeling such an effect, Winter would certainly have believed her little display. Her artificial spirit, Pizzicato, had also made an appearance, the little orange spectre floating around the Rozen Maiden's head in an almost comical manner.
She dashed over to the poor girl, holstering her sidearm and-
Oh. She'd fallen asleep in her uniform, again. And she'd taken a sidearm to bed. That would mark the second time this week for both instances. Wonderful.
"Oum. I'm sorry, you startled me. Are you alright, Kanaria?"
"...Moh~ Rozen Leader, reporting in…" the little doll muttered in a daze as she staggered back to her feet. Winter felt the strangest combination of amusement and guilt at the sight of the smaller green-haired Rozen Maiden. She was such a cute little klutz, getting into a number of unfortunate circumstances practically anywhere she went. Just last week there was the incident with the Atlesian Paladin and the dust crystals that had nearly caused a whole section of R&D to need repainting.
Shaking her head, she knelt down and helped the girl up to her feet, feeling a particular pang in her chest as the little Rozen Maiden held onto her for dear life. Excluding the militaristic style of her day-to-day life and the confidential nature of their ventures as Rozen Maiden and Master over the past few months, caring for the girl had felt uncomfortably similar to how Winter imagined it would be like to care for a child of her own.
With all the positive experiences and negative, utterly wild, consequences attached to it. Not to mention, the poor girl seemed to have the most uncannily poor luck she had ever witnessed, and that list was including the instances where Winter Schnee had seen Qrow Branwen from Team STRQ in his prime. How in the world Willow ever handled that man was a secret that Winter sincerely wished she had learned prior to departing for the military career.
"You should know better than to startle me, Kanaria," Winter gently admonished, shaking her head as she gestured for the automatic lights to flick onto their low power setting. A brief glance at her scroll showed the time to be 5:32pm.
Not the strangest time she had been awoken on her mandatory rest period following her in statement into the upper echelons of the Atlesian military, but certainly quite high up there. She may need to purchase stronger coffee in the future.
"I know…" the little green-haired Rozen Maiden pouted, looking down and kicking her feet. She really did behave just like a child at times. Honestly, Winter should have felt some manner of concern for the behaviour, yet Kanaria somehow managed to make it seem endearing for the most part.
"Relax, I'm not mad. I was just a little surprised, that's all. It's not every day you have a little Rozen Maiden shaking you awake on your day off."
Kanaria gave a little chuckle, smiling happily when she realised she wasn't in any trouble. A toothy grin of happy innocence that made her heart lurch something fierce. How long had it been since Weiss, Whitley, or even herself, had given off a smile like that? "Okay! Good!"
There was a pause, only for Winter to realise the little doll was really done talking and seemingly content to stand there in her bedroom smiling at her like she hadn't just barged into Winter's private abode unannounced in the late afternoon.
"...So, why exactly did you come here, Kanaria? I hope that it's not because you're out of permanent markers again."
Privately, she most certainly hoped that was the cause. She didn't know what it was with the little green-haired Rozen Maiden, but if she was given an artistic tool and left unsupervised, entire wings of the Atlesian military could be recoloured in the blink of an eye. The one time she had doodled all over the main communal meeting office mere moments before a meeting with the councillors, had been of particular note.
Kanaria blinked, then gave a gasp. "Oh! That's right! I have something really important to tell you!"
"Then, please. Go on," Winter straightened immediately, taken aback by the sudden turn of events.
The little doll immediately lunged for her, clutching her uniform desperately and wrapping her arms around Winter's waist. So shocked was she by the sudden movement, that Winter didn't have the chance to react.
"It's to do with the Alice Game! There have been all of these strange readings detected emanating from Kirakishou's Palace of Beginnings…"
...What?
Absentmindedly, Winter followed the appropriate behaviour she had learned after contracting with Kanaria, rubbing soothing circles on the doll's back and pulling her close. It had been one of the few behaviours Winter had found to be effective in calming the little doll when she was having a tantrum, whether it be stress related from their combined work or simply due to one of her countless childish antics inevitably leading to an absurdly chaotic outcome.
"What kind of readings?" Winter immediately requested, resisting the urge to pull out her scroll and check for messages lest she allows Kanaria to spiral down into a fit reminiscent of a panic attack. One that, in her artificial body supplied by aura from their contract, could prove quite dangerous for those around the tiny doll.
"I-I don't know… they didn't tell me that much…" Kanaria babbled her words into Winter's uniform, clutching her like a lifeline. "But I do know it was bad. Really bad. A-And I know it has to mean something! Kirakishou wouldn't just casually throw about energy like that! She wouldn't!"
Energy? Winter paused, ah. Aura, then? Kirakishou is using aura for something?
Following Kanaria's retelling and restructuring it into her own measure of understanding, Winter could hazard a guess that the research and development project currently spearheaded by Pietro Pollendina had detected a surge from their implanted sensors. Judging by the frantic tone and sudden arrival of Kanaria herself, Winter would estimate the size of the surge to be leagues above previously recorded datasets.
"Troubling news indeed…" Winter softly pushed the doll backward, supporting Kanaria's back with her other arm. The doll sniffled, looking up at her for direction. Once again, Winter felt an uncomfortable pang in her chest at the sight, one she desperately wished to ignore. "It would be in our best interests to connect with Atlesian R&D immediately. Would you know who exactly told you this information, Kanaria?"
"N-Not exactly…" the green-haired little doll stammered, looking uncomfortable. "But! I know that Pietro knows! I heard people saying Pietro's name, after all, and through that knowledge, I cleverly deduced that-"
"Good work," Winter was already marching out the door and towards her private study before Kanaria could get into one of her rants, quickly powering on her scroll to full power mode and connecting it to the wireless terminal on her desk. Kanaria chased after her, the little pitter-patter of her feet sounding oddly soothing to Winter's tired self.
From a quick glance out of the corner of her eye, the little Rozen Maiden looked incredibly put-out on Winter up and leaving her mid-speech, but at this point in their relationship, it was more an expected behaviour on both sides. More than one poor scientist in the Atlesian community had been blindsided by Kanaria going off on one of her rants and incorrectly deduced that she was some master tactician leagues above their own inferior intellect. The first few times were rather amusing stories to be told during the slower hours of the day, yet when it continued happening it had required Winter to let out quite the embarrassing memo.
If Kanaria starts to babble, leave the room immediately.
Poor Kanaria was still pouting about that particular memo.
"How long ago did you receive the information?" Winter requested, opting to steer her thoughts towards a productive resource. As the highest ranking member of the Atlesian Military currently in acting service, it fell on her to refocus thoughts away from Kanaria's bumbling adorableness.
"U-Uh... Half an hour ago?" Kanaria seemingly questioned herself, rather than asked.
"...And it took you that long to get to my private residence and warn me?" Winter deadpanned idly as she fiddled with her wireless scroll controls. She lived all of two minutes away from the Academy. With how frantically the doll had awoken Winter from her sleep, she figured that Kanaria would have arrived sooner.
"I, um, I didn't remember where you lived, so I had to get Pizzicato to show me… and, um, you know how you want me to keep Pizzicato a secret, so…"
Ah, yes. The curse of state secrets and confidential military ventures, Winter mused to herself, stifling a chuckle at the poor doll's expense. Any of those in R&D would have been more than able to offer assistance to Kanaria had she asked, but once the doll had gotten a plan in mind it was rather difficult to pull her away from it without hassle.
Knowing Kanaria as she did, the eggheads in R&D would have taken a single glance at the green-haired doll likely muttering to herself under her breath, and wisely opted to walk the other way. Say what she will about those she employed, but each and every one of them knew damn well to follow her memos to the letter.
She held up a hand, stopping the chattering girl in her tracks. Thankfully for both Winter and poor little Kanaria, her scroll had finally connected to the Atlesian network and cycled through all the relevant security protocols. Winter quickly opened the appropriate channel to connect a secure link towards Atlesian R&D, primarily towards one Pietro Pollendina. The call was accepted quickly, as a vision displaying the portly man quickly made its way to her theatre wall standing opposite her desk.
"General Schnee!" Pietro appeared surprised by her call, the sounds of movement audible over the line. Winter could vaguely make out the appearances of several coworkers busily peering over a dataset in the background, many of which stilled upon hearing Pietro's proclamation.
"Pietro. Kanaria told me the news. I'd like a full update on the current situation if you would be so inclined."
It was with an ironclad force of will that Winter refrained from downright giggling at the blatant manner in which Kanaria preened at the very mention of her name. Despite how much she would like to gush over the adorable little klutzy doll, Winter had a job to do at the moment.
The Atlesian scientist gave a firm nod. "Yes, of course. Precisely thirty-five minutes ago, we began receiving corrupted data sent across the Cross Continental Transmit system. Considering previous studies, courtesy of dear Kanaria-" said doll preened even further, "-that we were able to determine as likely signs of Kirakishou activating her abilities for an extended period of time."
Winter nodded at the barrage of information, pouring over the relevant details. Following several successful measured events and information freely given by her own Rozen Maiden, Atlesian R&D was able to successfully correlate the brief periods of worldwide connectivity in the Cross Continental Transmit system with signs of N-Field activation. In short, each time the CCT came online, it signified that Kirakishou was using her unique abilities to some degree.
Such abilities were theoretical at the best of times, a hotly debated topic within the upper echelons of the Atlesian Military even following months of study. However, the current consensus believed Kirakishou to be capable of destructive acts on par with the Vale incident, provided she was supplied with enough aura at the current time.
Following the Lone Wolf's death at the hands of the grimm horde surrounding Vale, many widely believed Kirakishou and her allotted Master Ruby Rose to have fled from the general vicinity surrounding Vale, following several months of occasional informational bursts from the CCT without correlative seismic data in the Vale area. Vale, as it stood, was likely deserted, with Kirakishou's Palace of Beginnings remaining as the sole reminder of what the good people of Remnant had lost. Considering what Winter privately knew was contained within the landmass, the loss of Vale for an extended period of time was an unacceptable outcome.
Continuing along with the assumed outcome of a deserted Vale, Atlesian minds had hypothesised the duo's route and possible motivations for desertation, which had thus prompted wide debate and discourse amidst a great many Atlesian researchers. Winter herself had allocated roughly the size of a small army in Atlesian soldiers and trained huntsmen of varying degrees of experience on a variety of missions across the world, all in search of Ruby Rose and Kirakishou. So far, as of yet, there had been no signs of them.
Considering the sheer amount of manpower that Winter had allocated to the project, Winter had begun to wonder where exactly the two girls had gone in order to so effectively hide from her increasingly-complex network of agents and huntsmen dispensed across the globe.
To make matters worse, her efforts to locate Ruby Rose and Kirakishou were beginning to draw unwanted attention from rival superpowers. Especially with the southernmost neighbouring content of Mistral. Relations with Mistral had always been somewhat strained following the Great War, the ten-year-long war having caused friction between a great many continents, many of which had rivaled one another to varying degrees of effectiveness. Many would assume that given their history with Mistral during the great war, they would be on relatively decent terms. Many would be proven wrong.
The destruction of Vale had reminded the people of Remnant of the Great War, of how the last King of Vale had been the deciding figure in ending the war on a unified front. With Vale reduced to nothingness, during the Vytal Festival held in honour of the end of the Great War no less, a great many people had begun to wonder what would occur if a conflict of similar size and scale to the Great War were to occur once more now that Vale was out of the picture.
Headmaster Leonardo Lionheart had practically cut communications with Atlas overnight following the destruction of Vale. And General Winter, try as she might, had been unsuccessful in warning the good Atlesian men and woman stationed in the port town of Argus that their presence may no longer be welcomed on Mistral soil. Agents dispatched to the town had found no trace of the Atlesian soldiers of Argus, and Winter only had a single man on her mind as the culprit behind their sudden disappearance.
Provided that Kirakishou and Ruby Rose were not found and dealt with in a timely fashion, Winter held no doubt in her mind that it was entirely possible for the world of Remnant to descend into full-scale war once again.
"Pietro," her voice was frigid. Poor little Kanaria squeaked at her tone, yet Winter did not falter. Pietro displayed no outwards signs of surprise at her tone, long since used to hearing it during their recent military and scientific ventures. "Tell me everything you know about the readings. Every scrap of information. Every current hypothesis regarding the current trajectory of Ruby Rose and Kirakishou. Every thought on what these readings could entail for Remnant. The composers are in position and ready for activation, should my assessment of the current situation prove dire enough to warrant their activation. Choose your next words wisely."
The Knight of the White Rose sped towards her, plate mail shining brilliantly against the violent menagerie of aura circling around its body. Yang shot a burst of dust towards the Knight courtesy of Ember Celica, the Knight choosing the block the dust shot with its blade, in staunch contrast to its previous strategy of either tanking the blow or attempting to dodge.
"You will not reach her!" Weiss declared, jumping to Yang's aid and calling upon her semblance. Shining white glyphs appeared in front of Weiss's rapier, the weapon cartridge rotating to send fire-natured dust into the glyphs. A slew of flame erupted from Weiss's glyph, spewing across the area and coating the approaching Knight in a sudden barrage of unstable flames.
From the side, Blake Belladonna dived into the flames in a flash of her semblance, seeming to have correctly anticipated the Knight dispelling Weiss's attack and launching a first strike on the Knight the moment the flames dissipated. Souseiseki joined the fray, the blue-clad doll wielding her gardener's shears like an impromptu blade as she charged the Knight of the White Rose, her speed amplified by yet another of Weiss's glyphs.
The Knight of the White Rose struggled against Blake's blade for a moment, before her lone eye flashed with a silver pseudo wing pattern and the faunus soon found herself violently launched away in a fierce display of unnatural strength, colliding in mid-air with Souseiseki before the doll could land her attack on the Knight. The two girls crumbled to the ground, Weiss seemingly thinking quickly and summoning a glyph to cushion their impact. Three glyphs of varying types all cast in rapid succession. It was clear that the heiress had been practicing. Not that it had done any good against the Knight of the White Rose.
Yang, Shinku, and Suiseiseki looked at each other for a moment, before nodding and charging the Knight. Having been made aware of Shinku's wound more than enough times throughout the fight, Yang shifted over to the smaller doll and heaved Shinku onto her back, the red-clad doll grasping her tightly.
"Healthily, and freely!" Suiseiseki cried out her attack, brandishing her watering can outwards as vibrant energy rained down onto the ground. Wild green vines burst from the ground as nature seemingly came alive at the doll's command, racing towards the errant Knight of the White Rose in great batches of colour. Their opponent let loose a blaze of silver flames, the shifting wave of flame clashing violently against Suiseiseki's attack and quickly petrifying the organic vines.
Shinku wasted no time in supplanting Suiseiseki's attack, conjuring a burst of petals around Yang and sending them forward in a red-shaped lance formation. The petals collided against Suiseiseki's petrified vines, easily carving through and continuing onwards, a flechette of petrified vine and red rose petals colliding violently against the errant Knight of the White Rose before the Knight even saw the attack coming.
The Knight of the White Rose was sent flying backward from the sheer force alone, as Yang charged forwards and met the Knight head-on before it could think to regain its bearings. As the Knight skidded across the ground, pulling up rubble from sheer velocity courtesy of Shinku's and Suiseiseki's combined strike, Yang sent a volley of dust rounds towards the Knight. With a great heave of its blade, the Knight of the White Rose dragged its greatsword downwards until it impacted roughly against the ground, using the sudden shift of momentum to anchor itself to the ground and narrowly avoid Yang's approaching volley of dust rounds. The dust rounds themselves continued onwards before impacting and detonating the moment they hit the ground, sending rubble flying about in various directions.
The Knight of the White Rose stood and regained its bearings, before heaving its sword upwards until it was pointing directly up at the sky, as silver flames manifested into existence and could around the great blade.
"How… how can an illusion become this strong…" Yang muttered to herself, greedily heaving in great lungfuls of air as she watched the sight with wide, disbelieving eyes.
"It's the Knight's connection to both Ruby Rose and Kirakishou," Shinku answered unexpectedly, Yang having momentarily forgotten she was still carrying the wounded little doll on her back. "Ruby Rose supplies the motivation behind the Knight of the White Rose, while Kirakishou supplies the energy."
The Knight of the White Rose suddenly brought its sword down in a violent slash, as the silver flames extended forwards of their own accord. Yang's eyes widened in alarm and she frantically shouted for her allies to dodge, jumping to the side as a fierce flurry of silver flames raced past her in a straight line, carving through the cliff face and continuing onwards into the tree line.
"By dust…" she heard Weiss Schnee mutter from behind her. The heiress was seemingly unable to believe her eyes as she gazed at the trail of destruction left in the wake of the Knight's unceasing strike.
It's too much, Yang realised. We can't hope to fight this thing and win. Each attack is leagues above anything we can hope to pull off. Combined with a seemingly endless amount of aura, and those silver flames… Any time that the Knight attacks, it vastly overpowers anything we throw at it...
An idea sprang to mind.
"Keep going!" Yang yelled out! "Don't stop fighting the Knight! Don't give it a chance to fight back!"
If they could wear it down… without giving it a chance to regenerate… perhaps they could defeat the Knight of the White Rose once and for all.
Yang loaded more rounds into Ember Celica, glancing over her shoulder at Shinku and giving the doll a firm nod that was swiftly returned. As she began to charge the Knight of the White Rose head-on, Yang could hear the telltale sign of a Schnee glyph manifesting and Blake Belladonna quickly joined her side, the faunus propelled forward by Weiss's semblance.
A harsh cloud of frost whipped past the trio of girls, conjured dust-laden snow generated by Weiss Schnee, nowhere near enough to cause any damage to either the girls themselves or the Knight of the White Rose, but enough to cloud their vision and shroud their approach.
"Healthily, and freely!" Suiseiseki chanted once more, brandishing her watering can. A flurry of vibrant energy splashed all over the vicinity, green vines bursting from the ground. Atop one of the vines, Yang could barely make out the form of Souseiseki, her gardener's shears held like an oversized makeshift blade once again.
Blake was first to reach the Knight of the White Rose, Gambol Shroud clashing fiercely against the Knight's oversized greatsword weapon. The Knight of the White Rose was quick to overpower Blake's strike, sliding its greatsword out of their sword lock and bisecting the faunus down the middle. In an instant, Blake's semblance activated and the bisected faunus faded away into a shadow, the real Blake Belladonna reappearing behind the Knight of the White Rose. Their opponent went to swing its greatsword around the meet Blake Belladonna head-on, only for Yang's fist to crash point-blank into its cheek, a dust round ejecting and sending the Knight of the White Rose flying backward.
"Cast again, Weiss Schnee!" Shinku yelled out from her position on Yang's back. The doll waved her hands, as the world suddenly bled a slew of crimson petals into existence around the two blondes, easily the largest amount Yang had witnessed during the entire fight against the Knight of the White Rose. Weiss was quick to react to the command, spinning white glyphs appearing in the middle of the petal storm, as red petals shifted into an icy menagerie of frozen leaves that were quickly sent towards their opponent. The sheer volume of the petal storm proved more than enough to dispel the conjured frosty smokescreen from earlier, racing to meet the Knight of the White Rose as it flew backward from Yang's earlier strike.
The Knight of the White Rose reacted quickly, shifting its position in the air and bringing its greatsword down to raze against the rocky cliff-side ground, carving deep into the stone surface and halting its velocity, as Shinku's and Weiss's combined frozen petal storm sailed right past her.
Towards-!
Yang let out a gasp of fear as she realised just how close they had gotten to the edge of the cliff, where Summer Rose's memorial stone and her slumbering baby sister lay. With the Knight of the White Rose having effectively dodged the attack, there was nothing to stop it from heading right towards the slumbering Ruby Rose. She raced towards her baby sister, desperately pushing aura into her legs in the hopes of running faster, screaming at Weiss Schnee to boost her forward. Above her, Yang could see Souseiseki, still propelled above by Suiseiseki's vines, lunging forwards to try and block the shot, but it was just too-
The Knight of the White Rose moved in a storm of silver petals, its twisted off-colour variation of Ruby Rose's semblance manifesting itself as it reappeared in front of the slumbering Ruby Rose mere moments before the frozen petals reached their destination. The Knight of the White Rose stood, stilled, and closed its lone eye. A sudden inferno of twisting silver flames shot forwards, petrifying the frozen petals before they could reach the Knight of the White Rose. The attack proved too strong, however, as the petrified petals continued onwards, colliding roughly against the Knight of the White Rose and sending it flying off the edge of the cliff.
She couldn't believe her eyes.
"...It… It sacrificed itself for her…" Blake muttered beside her, the faunus dropping her weapon in apparent shock following what had just occurred. Yang would have done the same, were her gauntlets not attached to her.
"Now you all witness firsthand the primary motivation of the Knight of the White Rose," Shinku explained gravely as the others caught up with them, Weiss and Suiseiseki looking just about as shocked at the turn of the events as Yang was currently feeling. "Whether it was a simple illusion, a trap conjured by Kirakishou to prevent us from reaching Ruby Rose, or something else entirely, all the Knight desired in the end was to protect Ruby Rose."
"...Fat load of good that it did in the end," Yang muttered as she stared down at the collapsed form of her baby sister, covered in white vines and clutching the memorial stone of Summer Rose in an almost desperately tight hold. She felt a peculiar tightness in her chest, one that reminded her of how she felt right after waking up in Raven's camp following the events in Vale.
Nothing made any sense anymore. She hated it. She hated all of it. Ever since Kirakishou had arrived and met Ruby Rose, everything had steadily fallen apart. She just wanted things to go back to the way they were before, back when Rubes would smile at her. Was that so much to ask?
"Regardless," Weiss spoke with a touch of force in her voice, bordering on frustration as she sent Yang a withering look. Yang blinked in confusion, wondering what the heiress's problem was with her now that they weren't in the thick of conversation with some strange illusion. "I highly doubt, no offence to Shinku, that our combined attack was enough to fell the Knight of the White Rose after everything that we've thrown at it so far."
"I agree," Shinku spoke from behind Yang, the blonde brawler kneeling down so that Shinku could climb off her body. The doll shifted a little in her position as she attempted to stand upright, clutching her waist. Hesitantly, Yang offered an arm for support which the doll gladly took. "Thank you, Yang. Now, as Weiss said, the Knight of the White Rose is likely incapacitated following our previous attack. As it stands, we are in a somewhat unique situation where we can attempt to discern the truth surrounding this place before the Knight returns. It may provide us with a solution for felling the Knight permanently."
Yang shifted on her feet, uncomfortable. She could feel the adrenaline running through her veins, aura flaring temperamentally as she waited for the Knight to surprise them all at any given moment. If Shinku and the others wanted to sit around and talk, then she figured they might as well, if it had the slightest chance of rescuing Rubes.
"Shinku's right," Suiseiseki agreed. "This isn't something we can fight head-on. This Knight of the White Rose displays an alarming amount of influence inside the N-Field of Ruby Rose, causing lasting damage to the landscape and altering the very laws of the world in order to separate us. The key to defeating the Knight of the White Rose lies within this N-Field, rather than in battle against the Knight itself."
"Furthermore," Souseiseki supplemented her twin sister, "the attacks displayed by the Knight of the White Rose appear vastly more powerful than anything unleashed on our side. Attempting to prolong the fight may very well end up risking our lives at the end, when even a single swing is enough to nearly incapacitate a Rozen Maiden."
"...You should have seen the Knight in the forest," Yang mumbled, before grimacing when several sets of eyes snapped to focus on her. "Shinku was right, okay. In the forest when we all got split up, she said that the Knight is connected to Rubes and Kirakishou, and so far it's displayed both Ruby's semblance and taken a bunch of Kirakishou's stolen aura in order to heal itself. As much as I want to dismiss it as just some illusion sent by Kirakishou, clearly, there's something else going on instead."
"Not to mention those silver flames," Weiss added with a shudder, Blake quickly moving closer to support her partner. "They were the sound we heard in the other section of the N-Field, drawing us here. I cannot even begin to wonder how exactly the Knight of the White Rose is able to use them to such a degree."
Yang shivered as she remembered the first time that she had experienced the white flames, laying collapsed in the Emerald Forest after the sudden sneak attack from her baby sister, unable to do anything but stare as the silver flames were drawn into the strange crystalline mirrors that had sprung up all around Vale. As Shinku had said before, the source had been located deep inside her baby sister's N-Field, and she could barely begin to fathom the implications of such a discovery.
The Knight of the White Rose was a force that had taken them all by surprise, striking with a force several leagues above anything that the group had been expecting during their quest to free Ruby from Kirakishou's influence. With Ruby's semblance, her memories, and its own unique abilities, it was most certainly a force to be reckoned with.
With a bitter feeling bubbling in her chest, she walked over to the illusionary copy of Summer Rose's memorial stone, the others trailing behind in her wake. Yang eyed the aged stone with some distaste, the memorial piece covered with tiny white vines and clutched desperately by her sleeping baby sister as if her life depended on it. When she was younger, Yang had always hated going to visit Summer's memorial stone with Rubes, to see her baby sister's tears appear time and time again.
How long had she worked, to push Ruby Rose past the death of her mother and allow her to live her life? How many times had she failed? When they had joined Beacon Academy and Ruby finally started breaking out of her shell, Yang had believed that finally things were taking a turn for the better. She had hoped that Summer's chapter in their lives could finally come to an end. For both Ruby Rose and for herself.
Summer Rose's death had hit her hard, as it would any young girl, but it had paled in comparison to how Ruby had been affected all those years ago. No matter how hard Yang had tried to steer Ruby forward, Summer's death had caused lasting implications for their whole family, but especially for Ruby Rose. It had practically torn their family apart, and Kirakishou's decision to invoke Summer Rose's likeness with the creation of a doll duplicate of Summer Rose had torn open a wound in her baby sister that Yang had been trying her best to heal.
"...Can we wake her?" Weiss tentatively asked, moving to Yang's side and joining the blonde in staring down at the small slumbering Ruby Rose.
She looked almost innocent as she slept, yet paradoxically appeared so very sad at the same time. Hopeless, almost. A little delicate girl, pointlessly clutching onto all that she understood. Yang despised the very sight of such a thing, one that spoke to her of her failure to protect Ruby from everything that Kirakishou had done.
"If she is asleep in her own N-Field, even following our battle, there's nothing that can be done short of using the twin gardener's powers," Shinku denied with a soft murmur, holding into Souseiseki for support as the dolls approached. "Even if we did, by your own past admissions, there is a good chance that Ruby Rose would prove less than hospitable in her current state."
"It's very odd, however," Suiseiseki groused as she folded her arms, "that a Master contracted to Kirakishou would be so quiet inside the N-Field. With everything I've been hearing about those two, I'd have expected them to spend their time in the N-Field together."
"What, like hanging out together in dreams or something?" Yang balked at the idea. The last thing she wanted was to dream about Kirakishou of all dolls. Even dreaming of Suigintou, her own Rozen Maiden, sounded a little weird.
"To be fair," Blake sidled up to the group, her voice sounding dry, "that's exactly what we're doing right now- hanging out inside a dream. Admittedly, it's for a good cause, but if it's possible then it's not that much of a stretch to imagine Ruby and Kirakishou doing it."
Yang shuddered. Even before the disaster in Vale occurred and everything fell apart, Yang could barely stand five minutes with the doll, with all her stupid flower phrases. She couldn't imagine actually wanting to spend more time with the doll so as to actively dream about each other in such a way. What in the world would they even be dreaming about? Growing flowers for Kirakishou and building weapons for Ruby?
"Which thus immediately highlights the effectiveness of Suigintou's gambit. Were it not for her decision to engage Kirakishou and distract her from our own venture, there would have been a high possibility that we would have faced both Kirakishou and the Knight of the White Rose, side by side," Shinku supplied a rather harrowing little hypothetical scenario. The girls all grimaced as they likely imagined what it would be like to face Kirakishou on top of the already overwhelming threat that was the Knight of the White Rose.
Suffice to say, Yang was definitely going to be thanking her own grey-haired Rozen Maiden once they all got out of here. Might even dream about her, too. Which, apparently, was something that people did.
A burst of petals tore through the group's reverie, an all-too-familiar sound of Ruby's semblance activating that sent the group scrambling out of the path of one Knight of the White Rose. Weiss was quick to summon propulsion glyphs that forced the group backward and away from Summer Rose's memorial stone and towards the forest, granting them some distance from the Knight of the White Rose.
"Tch. Well, that little intermission didn't last for too long," Yang sniped, observing the returned Knight of the White Rose.
It looked a little rough for wear. Ruby Rose's signature crimson cape that had returned during the Knight's previous spontaneous recovery was once again tattered and broken apart, signs that the Knight of the White Rose had indeed barrelled off the side of the cliff and met a harsh impact on the ground below. The Knight's armour also sported several harsh indentations, ruining the polished silver sheen with a heavy layer of dirt and debris. Of particular note was Ruby's hood, which had previously shielded the Knight, had been pulled down to reveal Ruby's signature red-highlighted hair, made all the messier by a no-doubt rough tumble down the cliff.
However, it had become clear to the group that the Knight of the White Rose was currently without her signature oversized greatsword, the very same sword that had blatantly overpowered each and every one of their attacks throughout the course of their battle. Yang could only imagine that the Knight had lost the weapon when it had tumbled off the cliff. Finally, a stroke of luck!
Without a moment's pause, Yang gestured for Shinku to climb on her back again, to which the doll quickly obliged. They had worked well as a team before, so she figured that she might as well abuse their cohesion to hopefully defeat the Knight of the White Rose once and for all. They had failed to successfully defeat the Knight numerous times before, however, this time was different.
And, if the other Rozen Maiden were correct in their deductions, Yang only needed to keep the Knight of the White Rose occupied enough for them all to figure out its weakness.
Yang looked over to Weiss and Blake, inspecting them for injuries. Miraculously, they had survived the battle against the Knight without any petrified limbs or any other crippling weaknesses, but it was clear that they were starting to run low on aura after a prolonged fight. She figured that this battle would likely be their last. If they didn't figure out how to defeat their opponent soon enough, the others would be too exhausted to continue. Even Yang herself was running a tad low on aura, the Knight's method of petrifying attack rendering her semblance borderline useless.
There was no point in utilising a semblance that empowered her when she got hit, if a single encounter with the Knight's silver flames could turn her into an Oum-damned statue.
"Weiss, Blake, back us up. Suiseiseki, Souseiseki, help them."
"You're not seriously going to-" the heiress was quick to object, only to be silenced by a glare of Yang's own.
"...No. Listen, you're both running low on aura. Charging in could get us all killed. Back the rest of us from a distance and try to work out how to defeat the Knight if you can. It's our only chance of defeating the Knight before it heals again. Remember what Shinku and the others said. It has to do with this N-Field."
Both Weiss and Blake looked at her, their pride warring with her words, before the girls eventually nodded in unison, their faces set and determined.
"Fine. But, be careful," Weiss cautioned with a stern glare prominently displayed on her face. "Even without her weapon, the Knight is still a dangerous opponent."
Yang gave a wry smirk, readying her gauntlets. The Knight of the White Rose witnessed her posture and narrowed its lone silver eye. However, it didn't change position, remaining as still as a statue. "Don't worry," Yang mused, "I'm a pretty dangerous opponent, myself."
Within a moment she was racing forwards, propelled ahead by one of Weiss's glyphs at the precise right moment to push her into a breakneck speed without taking her by surprise. The Knight of the White Rose shifted, closing its eye. Yang felt a shift in the air as silver flames spilled from the Knight's eye in a pseudo wing pattern, as the silver eye of the Knight suddenly snapped open.
Shinku's petals generated around her, the tiny doll clad on Yang's back weaving a vast amount of the crimson leaves and keeping them flowing about the duo as Yang raced towards the Knight.
"I will not allow it," the Knight of the White Rose's voice echoed around them, still and stagnant, whispering around them like a spectre. "I cannot. The Solemn Grove of Ruby Rose must be protected so that the threat of destruction can be quelled once and for all."
Almost… almost there…
Silver fire burst from the Knight of the White Rose in a furious storm of swirling colour, thrashing about in an almost organic manner before condensing around the Knight's outstretched hands. Yang charged, the blonde huntress and Rozen Maiden duo meeting the Knight of the White Rose head-on.
Yang moved to strike fiercely with a dust-enhanced haymaker punch, supported by Shinku on her back by a volley of rose petals, only for their attacks to meet resistance in the form of an all too familiar weapon wreathed in silver flames that quickly faded into a wrought metal alloy. When the Knight of the White Rose attempted to push forwards and parry their combined attack, a white glyph appeared beneath the Knight itself and sent it flying backward. Yang couldn't find the strength in her to smirk at Weiss's pragmatic use of her repulsive glyphs, too stunned by the Knight of the White Rose's summoned flaming weapon.
A part of her realised that her brief encounter with the condensed silver flames had not petrified her, while the vast majority of Yang Xiao-Long was currently balking at yet another impossibility.
"Null Value…" Yang breathed a ghastly breath at the sight, her mind flashing back to the last time she had seen the legendary weapon of the late Summer Rose. Null Value had been brandished by the Summer Rose doll that had attacked a bullhead Team RWBY had been inside of during the fall of Vale, as they fled from Amity Colosseum.
"Judging by the unique name and your reaction," Shinku murmured behind her, "I take it that you are familiar with this particular weapon?"
Hah. She gave a low, anxiety-ridden chuckle. "It… belonged to Ruby's mother, Summer Rose. Back during the fall of Vale, a doll created in Summer's likeness attacked us while wielding Null Value."
"I see…" Shinku paused, as Yang took the time to subtly edge her position away from the Knight of the White Rose, in case it decided to suddenly attack. "Its appearance in Ruby's Solemn Grove is a concerning development. However, we shall discuss the implications of such a thing at another time, provided we survive. We shall need to-"
The Knight of the White Rose shifted, and Yang felt her muscles tense in preparation for the incoming attack. With her knowledge of both Ruby's semblance and all the hundreds of stories she had heard about Summer Rose and Null Value, Yang felt justified in her caution over a simple movement from the Knight. During the fight, it had acted almost like a marionette, with stilted movements and prolonged periods of stillness. Any movement at all had proved to be a sign of action.
Yang gestured over to Weiss and the others, a non-verbal signal to be alert that had been trained into them following the many hours they had spent sparring as a team over at Beacon Academy. When the heiress returned a nod, Yang felt assured that Weiss's group had her back should the worst occur.
There was a sudden beat of stillness in the air, before the Knight of the White Rose shifted the flaming Null Value, raking the great blades across the ground with an almost mechanical slowness to its movement as its eye remained steadily affixed on Yang Xiao-Long. With some degree of trepidation, Yang recognised the tense position and hawkish sight from her previous battles- from those of opponents waiting for her to attack. The Knight of the White Rose was on guard, no longer treating them as nothing but intruders to remove, but a legitimate threat. And, whether it be due to her connection with Rubes herself or due to all of her own violent attacks, the Knight of the White Rose had signalled her as the main threat to be observed.
She grinned savagely at the thought. The Knight deserved to be cautious of her after everything that the bizarre creature had put them all through. The fact that it saw fit to prevent them from reaching Rubes, constantly proclaiming them all in such a negative light, Yang especially, grated on her pride something fierce.
With a burst of motion that tore through the silent world, the Knight of the White Rose ripped Null Value from the ground, pulling it up into the air in an incredible display of strength as an all-too-familiar girlish yell tore from its throat in an unnatural rendition of her baby sister. Yang downright flinched at the sound, a horrid anguished wail sharped into a discordant melody, as silver light flared out from the Knight of the White Rose in a collection of silver crescent shapes none too dissimilar to both the size and shape of Ruby's absurd scythe blade. Unlike previous bouts of silver flames ripping away from the Knight of the White Rose, these flames were condensed into solid shapes, much like its conjured form of Null Value. A new attack? This would mark the second wildly differing attack, following the silver slice that had torn through a good chuck of earth just before.
And Yang wasn't going to allow herself to be blindsided by another overly flashy strike once again! She wasted no time in bothering to yell out to her allies, knowing full-well that they had prepared themselves for anything that the Knight of the White Rose opted to throw at them. Instead, Yang focused on herself, first and foremost. She was the closest to the Knight and would thus be the first to take the full brunt of whatever the attack turned out to be in the end.
The silver crescent arcs were released as the Knight of the White Rose slashed sideways with its conjured Null Value, the sheer force of the blades themselves pushing forth a torrent of wind that tore up the nearby terrain and forced the blonde brawler to duck for cover to avoid losing her footing and potentially being thrown off the cliff just like what had happened to the Knight of the White Rose after it had sacrificed itself to protect the slumbering Ruby Rose. Yang decided to stick to the ground, pushing herself down as much as she could, as a flurry of silver crescents narrowly avoided her prone form. A sudden yelp was heard, as Yang immediately remembered that she hadn't been alone in her fight against the Knight of the White Rose.
"Shinku!"
Yang found herself watching with wide eyes as the red-clad blonde doll was thrown away by the silver crescent slash, the physical attack violently pushing Shinku away, to where she crashed against a tree in the far distance. A wall of ice was conjured and summarily destroyed in the blink of an eye, while a thread of sudden overgrown vines was sheared away with uncomfortably similar haste. Blake tried to run, a clone appearing to take the hit while she reappeared nearby closer to Yang, only for a silver crescent to curve through the air and race towards the unsuspecting ebon-haired faunus. Then, the moment occurred when Yang discerned what had happened, as the Knight of the White Rose was able to land successful strikes on each and every one of her allies at the same time.
Blake Belladonna found herself struck from behind, confined to the ground.
Weiss Schnee found herself struck in the abdomen, unable to prevent her own defeat.
Suiseiseki found herself confined, completely and utterly, chained to her twin sister.
Souseiseki found herself confined, completely and utterly, chained to her twin sister.
And Shinku, poor Shinku, was forced to watch as her comrade in arms suddenly found herself all alone against the Knight of the White Rose.
Yang herself was quick to understand that she hadn't dodged the silver crescent attack as initially believed. The Knight of the White Rose had purposely conjured a sudden bout of wind to force her to the ground, to force her down, in order to target her friends. It hadn't been due to some lucky break or quick thinking on her part. Her success had been artificially created so as to force her alone with the Knight of the White Rose.
The very same Knight of the White Rose that was actively speeding toward her. It had forgone Ruby's petal semblance, instead racing forward her with single-minded intent.
It had always been about them, she realised. Yang and the Knight and the White Rose, to opposing forces fighting for control over Ruby Rose. The Knight had always been aiming for her. She was everything that the Knight of the White Rose despised. Everything that it fought against in order to seemingly protect Ruby Rose.
"Fine, then!" Yang shouted, grinning in the face of danger as she sped towards the Knight of the White Rose. "Try all you want! You're not going to defeat me!"
The two opposing forces met head-on, Yang expertly avoiding a sideways sweep from the flaming Null Value by launching herself upward into the air with Ember Celicia. She winced at the sheer heat the legendary weapon of Summer Rose was putting off from its sheer presence alone. The Knight of the White Rose reacted quickly to her dodge, activating the dust chamber hidden beneath Null Value's thermic lance and catalysing the dust inside, a jet of superheated dust expelling forwards in a violent orange hue that the Knight rapidly brought towards Yang Xiao-Long.
However, this wasn't the first time she had faced up against this weapon. Story after story had been told by her dad about Null Value and the antics of Summer Rose, including how best to avoid the weapon's infamous overpowered dust shot. Yang knew that Null Value could not be blocked, the shot simply too powerful to be effectively distributed by any known means without damaging the defending party.
Following her thoughts, Yang moved to fire Ember Celicia once again, using the force generated to launch towards the Knight of the White Rose, the one space in the reach of both Null Value and Yang herself that was safe from harm. The Knight of the White Rose grunted in surprise at the sudden armful of blonde, as the two opposing forces began to collapse backward following Yang's impromptu tackle.
The world launched into a flurry of colours as Yang once again quickly recalled what was happening from a previous event in her memories. The Knight of the White Rose had activated Ruby's semblance, inadvertently taking Yang along for the ride as the two burst away in a flurry of silver and yellow petals, conflicting and thrashing about violently as they tore through the surrounding landscape. Trees and rocks alike were ripped apart, the tell-tale flashes of yellow and red indicating the aura of both Yang and her opponent activating in response to the damage.
Yang felt her own semblance begin to respond to the damage, as strength quickly flooded into her petal-clad body. Yellow and silver clashed in a violent display of colour that ripped through the world, as Yang desperately pushed against the Knight of the White Rose. With a harsh bout of exertion, she was able to force herself away from the Knight of the White Rose, rematerialising from the petals brought forth from Ruby's semblance and back into her actual body, managing a hasty landing by using the force from her detachment to impact against a tree and force herself back into a standing position.
Meanwhile, the Knight of the White Rose was violently ejected from Ruby Rose's semblance, the loss of Yang Xiao-Long utterly ruining its trajectory and sending the wayward Knight crashing through several rows of trees. A moment later and the furious Knight of the White Rose was on top of her again, a flaming Null Value cleaving its way through several trees which quickly petrified in response to the silver flames, allowing the four-pronged oversized spear to continue sailing towards Yang. She met the charge head-on, grinning violently as she clutched the handle of Null Value, halting its momentum via her own semblance-enhanced strength, as her hair blazed golden in response to the aura flooding through her body. The Knight of the White Rose faltered, momentarily surprised by the display of Yang's semblance, as she yanked Null Value forwards and by extension the Knight of the White Rose, directly into the path of her awaiting dust-enhanced haymaker hit.
As a result of the strike, the Knight of the White Rose was sent flying away from Yang, the telltale crimson flickers of Ruby's aura manifesting to brunt the damage. Yang grit her teeth at the sight, knowing full well that the Knight was being supplied with aura by Kirakishou following the previous events of their battle. While the Knight of the White Rose remained connected to Kirakishou's Palace of Beginnings, Yang would forever be on the receiving end of an endurance match that she had no hope of winning, even with her own semblance bolstering her strength.
She needed a solution, and fast. And with the rest of her allies thrown out of the fight by the Knight's previous attack, it was all up to Yang herself to figure it all out. She looked towards the slumbering Ruby Rose, her heart lurching at the sight of her baby sister, bound and bound again by Kirakishou's manipulations.
"...You will not… You cannot…" the Knight of the White Rose forced itself to its feet, the flaming Null Value dissipating into embers that fizzled away into nothing.
The Knight of the White Rose collapsed, falling to its knees before Yang could even move into a sprint following the loss of Null Value. Briefly, the Knight's silver eye, Ruby's silver eye, snapped to focus on Yang's form with an inscrutable gaze, before the Knight of the White Rose tilted its head up to stare up at the sky.
Vines burst from the white rose growing out of the Knight's right eye socket, thin and devoid of colour. Kirakishou's vines.
"Stop her!" Shinku desperately shouted out from the nearby treeline, the tiny Rozen Maiden struggling fruitlessly against the Knight's bound silver crescent strike. "She'll summon Kirakishou to this world! Her presence will undo everything we have fought for!"
Helplessly, Yang searched for an answer, even as more and more vines continued to pour out of the Knight's rose. Something! Something had to be able to stop this. They couldn't let Kirakishou get here. The Knight was too strong. They had barely managed to even survive against is so far. If it was able to summon Kirakishou, they wouldn't stand a chance.
She… she couldn't do this… not on her own…
Yang fired off shot after shot from Ember Celicia, the blasts whizzing by the Knight of the White Rose that paid them no mind. It wasn't even attempting to defend anymore, crimson wisps of aura manifesting and sacrificing themselves as Ruby's aura heeded blow after blow.
Looking around, desperately, she searched for her allies. Shinku had been thrown away some distance, the doll having instead been forced to resort to shouting in order for her warning to be heard by Yang. Even if she could free Shinku, the doll had already been damaged by the Knight of the White Rose in the past. There was no telling what Shinku's condition was after having sustained yet another strike.
The same thought went for Weiss and Blake. Weiss in particular had used a colossal amount of aura through the overuse of her semblance throughout the fight and could be close to running empty. After seeing the depths to which aura exhaustion could cripple Weiss during the Vytal Festival Tournament, there was a good chance that Weiss's aura may be close to depleted after having sustained a major strike from their opponent. Blake, meanwhile, hadn't been able to avoid the Knight's strike even through the use of her semblance. She doubted there was anything Blake could do that would prevent the Knight of the White Rose from summoning Kirakishou to this world.
And, then… her eyes fell on Suiseiseki and Souseiseki. The twin gardener dolls had been bound together, relatively close by to Yang's relative position. Souseiseki's oversized gardener shears had been thrown out of her hands during the Knight's latest attack, however, both dolls were clearly conscious and seemingly attempting to move closer to the shears. Were they trying to free themselves?
At first, Yang didn't think they would be much help. Souseiseki was essentially a little girl with a large sword, while Suiseiseki was essentially just a bargain bin Weiss Schnee with her penchant for summoning large area of effect abilities to damage the Knight of the White Rose, using vines in the place of Weiss's glyphs.
However… they had been a part of the group that Yang had tasked to try and figure out a way to stop the Knight of the White Rose. Not to mention, it had been through the use of their combined powers that they had been able to make it to Ruby's Solemn Grove in the first place. Clearly, there was more to their powers than what she had seen during the battle with the Knight.
Could Weiss, Blake, Suiseiseki, and Souseiseki have figured out a plan while Shinku and Yang had been fighting the Knight?
Yang didn't know, but she was willing to risk the chance. The Knight of the White Rose was continuing to summon forth more and more vines from its rose, moving outwards into the sky and spreading forth around the landscape like some kind of proto-forest of pale white vines unbound by gravity. If the twin dolls had a plan, then Yang needed to buy them as much time as she could… but how…
Damn it. I know exactly what it wants, don't I?
"...I'm sorry," the Knight froze at her words, pale thorned vines crashing down and dissipating as the manifestation mechanically turned to stare at Yang with a wide, disbelieving eye. Yang grit her teeth, forcing a frown on her lips. "...I'm sorry, Ruby. I should have listened to you, during the incident at Beacon Academy during the Vytal Festival. I…" Yang shook her head, some real tears escaping her. "I… I just don't understand your relationship. It doesn't make sense to me. But I shouldn't have judged you because of it. I'm sorry."
The Knight turned to her, fully. Its expression was inscrutable. And, yet, it had not attacked. Yang counted that as a blessing in her book. "You-"
But, Yang wasn't listening to whatever the Knight was going to say. She had accomplished what she needed to do. Suiseiseki and Souseiseki had managed to free themselves from the Knight's silver crescent attack and sneak up to the unconscious manifestation of Ruby's core.
"Healthily, and freely," Suiseiseki voiced aloud with a flourish of her watering can, as water spilled from the tool and crashed into the projection of Ruby Rose. Green vines sprung forth from the area surrounding her baby sister, growing in mass until a veritable forest of vines had overtaken the area, growing over the previous vines to where Yang couldn't see a single one of Kirakishou's pale white vines.
"Let sprouts emerge," Souseiseki continued the chant as she soared towards Ruby Rose with her gardener's shears drawn fiercely, "let buds blossom!"
And in an instant, vines belonging to both Kirakishou and Suiseiseki were razed away by a brilliant display of vibrant green energy. The Knight of the White Rose shuddered and launched itself towards the twin gardeners, as Yang moved to intercept.
"Let the tips go vibrantly," Suiseiseki chanted.
Racing forward, The Knight of the White Rose crashed into Yang, swinging frantically, desperately, as her aura took blow after blow. Yang's semblance activated once again in response to the damage and rapidly increased her strength. With a final roar, Yang pushed with all of her gathered strength and sent the Knight of the White Rose down to the ground through a semblance-enhanced strike to the Knight's battered chestplate.
"...As they seek out the light," Souseiseki finished.
There was no shriek of anguish from the Knight of the White Rose, but as Yang stared down at the errant Knight, collapsed in a crater of her own design, the Knight of the White Rose stared back at her. She could see it, cradled within the Knight's lone silver eye.
Betrayal.
That look. That expression on Ruby Rose's face. It hurt, more than she wanted to believe. She found herself unable to look away, even as the Knight of the White Rose faded away, piece by piece. Even as the other Rozen Maiden dolls and her other allies found themselves freed from the Knight's final attack, Yang couldn't find it within herself to so much as move a muscle.
There was a sound. From Ruby. Panic surged in her body, and before Yang knew it she was moving once again.
Ruby Rose, the slumbering Ruby Rose, lurched, as crimson energy glowed in brilliant display out from her hands. No! Her right hand. Yang raced over to her unconscious baby sister, pulling her away from the mess of white and green trimmings caused by Souseiseki's shears, cradling Ruby against her body. She could see the energy, originating from her right hand, her ring finger.
After all of their questing through the bizarre set of strangely familiar landscapes, Yang realised that this was what they had all been searching for in the end.
The Knight of the White Rose was defeated. Suiseiseki and Souseiseki had worked their power, shredding Kirakishou's vines and tearing them away from the sleeping Ruby without injuring her slumbering baby sister hidden beneath. Only a single vine remained after their assault, weak and pathetic, circling around her Rozen Maiden contract ring. Yang found her hand moving towards it, anger surfacing in her thoughts.
Silver eyes fluttered. The world was silent, still, as Ruby Rose breathed her first breath within her Solemn Grove.
"...I love her…" the image of Ruby muttered, shifting, as bleary eyes blinked open. Weary, almost. Yang found her hands on the vine, a fragile little thing, seconds away from ending the doll's influence once and for all. The image of Ruby shifted to look at Yang's hands, morose. "...Would you really take that all away from me?"
Yang didn't hesitate. Not now. Not after everything she had been through.
She tore.