A Once Inferno Smothered To Embers
Sweat clung to Yang's face as she continued to move and throw punches at the robotic opponent in front of her. From the training mat side, a doctor was checking on her vitals while Neo was watching her closely. Yang hated the feeling of the sensors set up on her body as she continued to push herself harder and harder.
The number on the robot's face began to flash, changing from four to five, and its movements became more erratic. Its punches came in with more power, and she could feel the fire start to build in her soul, begging for the dam to break. Keeping it in check, Yang continued to block and dodge the robot.
"Thirty more seconds" The doctor yelled out as he went back to the readings. Yang mentally cursed whoever came up with this idea for a physical check to return to active duty. The number began to flash again, and Yang had enough of it. Tapping into her Semblance, Yang yelled out as she grabbed the robot's fist and yanked hard while bringing her foot up to its chest. The metal did little as it stretched and broke off from its body.
The machine looked at where its arm just was before looking up at Yang before her fist came crashing against its chin. Its head spun around its shoulders, nearly going all the way around before crumpling onto the training mat like the heap of scrap metal it was. The doctor looked down at his scroll tablet then back at her. "Okay then…" He put it away and cleared his throat. "Well, with that, I think you're ready for active duty, Specialist Xiao Long,"
"I was already on duty when I was on the ground, evacuating Fei-yan."
"Yes, well, you did so without proper approval, and that could be grounds for a court-martial." Whatever Yang was about to say, it was cut off when the robot behind her began to spark and twitch out of control, exploding just enough to send the head skidding across the floor and landing at the doctor's feet. He cleared his throat again before picking it up. "Of course, those are just semantics, rules-lawyering that no one really cares about, right?" He was met by silence before he just nodded and began to walk away with the head.
Both Neo and Yang watched him walk away and shook their heads lightly. With a heavy breath, Yang accepted a water bottle from Neo, who drained its whole contents quickly and set it on the side after sitting down on a bench. That check-up took a lot out of her; even if it was not as bad as the evacuation days prior, machines did not have to breathe, so there were no chances for Yang to catch her breath for the entire thing. Two snaps took her attention away as Neo held up her scroll for Yang to read.
"You lost your temper,"
Yang sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah, I know…" She knew why but did not want to admit it. She had not had a drop of alcohol since finding out that Ruby had woken up. Neo, who seemingly knew what was going to happen, already took Yang's flask from her pocket when Yang and Blake came back to the room. Yang knew it was probably for the best, but she could feel her body start to shake from her addiction withdrawal.
"Hey, could I have some, please?" Yang was met with a stern look from Neo, who reluctantly took the flask out from a pocket and held it out for Yang. Before Yang grabbed it, Neo pulled it out of her reach and glared at Yang before holding up two fingers. Yang nodded and reached for the flask more gently than the first time.
Pulling the top off, Yang quickly brought it to her lips and let it fill her mouth. She took two gulps before a harsh snap of Neo's fingers reminded Yang of the deal. Slowly, Yang pulled the flask away from her mouth and handed it back to Neo, who quickly put it away and placed a kiss on Yang's forehead. The warmth spread through her body as she felt the shame wash over her. Her girlfriend was acting like her babysitter; they both were. "I'm sorry, I'm such a mess," Yang whispered as she buried her face in her hands.
Neo was quick to sit next to her and pull her metal hand away from her face. Smaller hands cupped her face, and Neo shook her head gently. Yang sighed and shook her head again. "You and Blake shouldn't have to watch me like this, but I couldn't even watch over myself; how am I supposed to help Ruby?" Everything felt like it was crashing down on top of her all the time. One crisis after another, no time to even think. Yang was surprised she did not turn to alcohol sooner.
A harsh finger snap stole Yang's attention.
"We're helping you because we love you. Because we want you to be better. There's nothing wrong with help from other people."
Yang read the message and nodded solemnly. She wondered if Neo had felt like this before with Torchwick.
"I hate to see you cry," The next message read.
"I bet you say that to all the girls," Yang chuckled a bit as she wiped some tears that were building in her eyes.
"Only to the pretty ones,"
Yang chuckled while wrapping her arm around Neo and held her close. They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments; Yang watched as a few other people worked out. Jogging or using the machines on their off time. It was hard to believe that there was any break time with everything that was still going on in the ship. It was only going to be another day or two when the Mantle of Responsibility makes it back to Atlas, and she has no idea what she was going to do then.
"How are things between you and Blake?" Yang finally asked. She felt Neo tense up slightly as her fingers began to nervously tap against her scroll. Trying to figure out what to say. "Look, I know you two don't always see eye to eye, but I really appreciate you two not fighting every time you meet." Neo nodded and finally began to slowly type out a message. Yang looked down and saw her fingers, which normally flew across the keyboard, typed each letter very, very slowly.
"What if I"
Neo quickly deleted whatever she was going to type and shook her head, and smiled up at Yang. She could tell the smile was forced, but Yang did not push the topic. Pulling Neo closer, she pressed a kiss to the top of her head and stood up from the bench. "I'm going to check up on Ruby," Neo nodded but did not move from her spot. Yang saw something else flash across the smaller woman's face but could not place it. Again, Yang did not push the topic as she walked to the locker room and changed out of her sweaty clothes and made her way to Ruby's room in the infirmary.
Getting to the isolation rooms was a bit of a hassle. By the very need for the rooms, they were separated from the general area and needed a series of codes to access them. Because of the circumstances, Yang, Blake, Weiss and few others were given the proper authority by Ironwood to check up on Ruby. When the door that led to Ruby's hallway opened, Yang was stopped by the sight in front of her.
Standing in front of the observation window to Ruby's room was a ghost from the past.
"Penny?"
The woman snapped out of her train of thought and turned to face her. She looked like she had just stepped from a dream from the past. Yang had almost forgotten what had happened since she had last seen the red-haired woman. The only difference was that a large bandage covered the right half of Penny's face. "Salutations," Penny said with a little wave.
Yang quickly walked up to her and slowly reached out, unsure if her alcoholism had completely made her lose her mind. When her hand landed on Penny's shoulder, she felt that she was real, and Yang wasted no more time wrapping her up in a hug. She clung to the woman and tried to lift her up like she always did with her friends, but she would not budge. Regardless, Yang just let out a strangled laugh as she released the woman and cupped her face.
"You're alive!" Yang laughed. "I can't believe it! Blake said she saw you alive, but how?"
Penny gave a sad smile as she gently took Yang's hands off her face. "It's good to see you again, Yang," She held onto Yang's hands and looked down at the ground. "Yes, I'm alive, but not in any traditional sense. I'm not real…"
"Of course you are!" Yang said as she pulled her hands away from Penny and tapped her shoulders. "You're here, you're real!"
"I'm not a real person…" Penny said finally. Quickly, Penny looked down the hallway and began to peel away at the bandage that covered her face. Yang was unsure what she was expected when Penny pulled it away, but she was certainly not expecting metal. A distinct separation of flesh surrounded an exposed metal skull. Yang could see that her eye looked more like a camera lens and a few different gears just behind it all. "I'm a synthetic person able to produce an Aura…"
Yang just stared at the bomb dropped in front of her. Her mind racing and trying to piece things together while Penny put the bandage back on her face. "I was never truly alive, Yang,"
"Of course you are, Penny," Yang said as she placed her hand on her shoulder. "You are you. You said it yourself; you have an Aura. You have a soul. Anything else is just extra…" Yang lifted her metal arm and examined it. "Trust me on that one."
For the first time since seeing her, Penny gave a small smile. "Thank you, Yang. Ruby said something similar to that when she found out, back at Beacon," At the mention of her sister's name, Yang turned to look at her through the reinforced window. Just like before, Ruby was struggling against the bonds. The blood on her face had dried, and her movements were slower. Had she been struggling since she had been put in? Had she slept at all?
"So, what. Were you, like, rebuilt since Beacon?" Yang asked as she turned her attention back at Penny.
"Yes," Penny nodded. "This is my fourth time I've been rebuilt,"
"Holy shit," Penny just nodded again as she focused on Ruby and then shook her head.
"It's strange; I don't think the human mind is supposed to come back from being dead. When you die, that's it. It's done and over with. No more thoughts, no more feelings. Peaceful. But for me, I still remember everything. My programming keeps track of things when I'm offline, so I know what happened when I was killed. Each time, it affects me, I think. Like now,"
To prove her point, Penny raised her hand and took a step towards Ruby's door. Only to stop when it began to shake. Turning to face Yang, she kept her eye on her own hand. "I know Ruby can't hurt me right now; she is restrained to a bed inside of an isolation chamber designed to withstand a class three explosions. But this is as close as I can go. I physically can not get any closer to Ruby, my first friend, the person who killed me…"
Ruby killed Penny?
Yang looked at her sister again. How could she kill Penny? Then again, she tried to kill Yang back in Mistral and held nothing back. What happened to that little girl Yang used to know?
"I think that's called trauma," Yang looked at her own hand; the black and yellow metal had become so familiar to her, same with the Dust infused tattoo she had going up her side. It's so easy for things to become so normal so quickly. "It's something everyone is picking up these days,"
"Yes, I think you're right. I seem to have a few of those. For instance, I'm afraid of sleeping, thinking that I will never wake up, and I'm trapped in the same void before I was reactivated. Which is strange because I've never needed to sleep before, and now I'm afraid of never waking up."
"Damn, that's harsh," Yang said as she went to grab her flask, only to pat the empty pocket and remember that Neo has it. With a heavy sigh, Yang brushed some hair out of her face and looked at her friend. "Got any more?" she asked jokingly.
Penny blinked a few times in thought before looking over to Yang. "Yes. String makes me nervous now…"
Yang just stared at Penny, wondering why string would do that, but then remembered that she was torn apart by her own wires that connected her to her weapons. Literally ripping her apart on live television. "Yeah, that'll do it…" The silence stretched into uncomfortable lengths. The only sound that was not the ship's hum was the muted cries from Ruby's constant struggles coming from the isolation room.
"I should go," Penny finally said as she pushed herself from the wall. "My replacement skin should be ready soon, and Father will be worried for me if I stay away for too long. It was good to see you again, Yang," Penny smiled again as she began to walk down the hall, leaving Yang alone with Ruby.
Eventually, Yang pushed herself off the wall and made her way towards the heavy door. Putting her code in, the door slid open and revealed Ruby on the other side. At the sight of her, Ruby struggled harder against her bonds and screamed louder. Slowly, Yang took steps and looked down at her sister.
The hate and fear in her silver eyes broke her heart. Tears rolled down her cheeks and into the pillow that had dried blood staining the case. "It's okay, Ruby. I'm not going to hurt you,"
"LIAR!" She shouted back. Her voice strained and hoarse from constantly yelling. "All you ever do is lie! You tried to kill her!"
"I- you didn't give me a choice! You tried to kill us! You've killed so many people! Ruby, Please! Let us help you!"
"There is nothing you can do to help other than die. Everyone, EVERYONE is the enemy! The only way she will be safe is I've killed everyone. Including you."
Tears welled up in Yang's eyes as she shook her head. How could Ruby say such a thing? "I'm sorry, Ruby," Yang cried as she gripped the bars on the side of Ruby's bed. "I promise, I'll do everything I can to help you. I'm not leaving you again, I promise."
Gently, Yang reached out to cup Ruby's face to make sure she knew that Yang was telling the truth. Instead, Ruby turned her head and bit down on the metal fingers when they got near. Yang watched in horror as her little sister struggled to tear off her fingers with her teeth alone. Even now, Ruby refused to surrender.
With her other hand, she stopped Ruby from jerking her head back and forth and kissed her forehead. That only caused Ruby to struggle more, trying to cause as much pain as she could no matter what. "I love you," Yang whispered to her as he pulled away and managed to gently free her fingers so as not to damage Ruby's teeth. Just before Yang reached the door, a whisper came from Ruby.
"What?" Yang quickly turned around to see Ruby staring at her. Her body no longer struggled against the straps but her eyes looked even more hurt. Her voice, while still hoarse and raspy like before, carried a different weight to it somehow.
"If you truly loved her, why didn't you do anything sooner?"
Yang did not have an answer, not one that did not sound like an excuse anyways. Silently, she turned and walked through the door and let it slide closed behind her. A few short steps across the hall, she pressed her back against the wall and slid down onto the ground. Pulling her knees to her chest, Yang hid her face behind her knees and cried as quietly as she could.
A/N: Hello hello!
Look at me! Two weeks between chapters! a recent record!
Things have been slowly getting better, as you can see from my writing. (the amount of writing, not its contents) But recovery is a very long winding uphill road. Try to cheat it and you could lose a lot of progress.
And as a bit of a shameless plug, I do have another series that I started a while ago called "The RWBY crackhouse" where I take prompts of rare pairs and the like. So if anyone has any ideas, feel free to leave them there!
Beta read by StreetAngelJ
If you enjoyed, leave a Favourite! If you already have, leave a comment! I love reading them and I love replying to them. This story is also posted on AO3 under the same name. So if you read there as well, come show your support! I also have a tumblr: AngryFaceWritings come say hi!
And as always, thank you for taking time out of your busy days to read my slice of madness!
