"Fuck...you guys just...don't give up," Yang panted as she skidded to a halt. Looking up she glared at the Ursa through the sweat in her eyes. She had followed the markings on the trees since leaving the village. What hadn't crossed her mind was how many would actually be here. Before she could fully catch her breath she raised her arms up in defense as another Ursa slammed its paw onto her. With a loud crack the blow knocked her back against a tree causing it to shatter and splinter. Gritting her teeth she pushed herself off of the damaged trunk, her eyes glowing a deep red she charged at the Ursa. A powerful boom rang out as she shot her gauntlets at the ground, launching herself forward and swinging her fist forward at full force. It collided with the Ursa's paw sending out a shockwave of force breaking the loose dirt and rattling the other trees. She could hear the cracking of bones as the punch shattered its arm.
The beast let out a thundering roar as it retreated away from her, it's glowing eyes never leaving her gaze. Not allowing the beast to have a moment's rest Yang pressed forward, sliding under one of the Ursa's attacks, rolling onto her stomach and pushing herself up to deliver an uppercut to the bears jaw. The concussion sent a shockwave through the beasts skull as its jaw cracked under her fist. The ursa coughed up blood, spitting it all over Yang's head and face as it fell limp to the ground. As the body passed she came face to face with another set of red eyes in the trees. She cracked her neck, steeling herself ready for more.
Trudging forward Yang was soon sprinting at the last beast, letting out a yell that echoed in the woods rattling the trees. Yang let out a barrage of gunfire into the tree line, then unloading a shot into the ground again to close her distance. The leaves and dry brush around her started to let off smoke, the heat from her aura engulfing the area around her and the grimm. Soon enough the forest around them became engulfed in flames, Yang was counting on the Grimm to be flushed out where she could see it. By then it would be easy enough to kill it. Using the cover of the smoke from the fire she closed the distance quickly, jumping up and planting her boots square on its face kicking its head back as she jumped off with the added force. After flying a short ways she landed on her feet and delivered another barrage of punches to the grimms chest, it let out a powerful roar of pain as flames engulfed its fur ridden chest.
Wiping the sweat from her brow Yang could only growl in anger as she watched the beast regain its composure after her attack. "Oh, come the fu-…" she was cut off as the Ursa charged at her, ramming head first towards her, forcing her to cross her arms and block most of the force from the attack. After sliding back from the hit Yang let her arms drop to her side. She could feel her body starting to become heavy. Her aura was probably almost critical at this point, she needed to end this fight and fast, this better be the last one.
Flicking her wrists she ejected the spent casings from her gauntlets. She took to carrying a plethora of different dust ammo over the years, finding new means of attacking with new levels of variability. However, while her favorite was always going to be fire she took a liking to gravity dust as well, finding the applications for it to be especially effective—the only catch was gravity dust was very expensive, and she could only afford to buy one chain of it every other month. That is why she elected to only use it as a last resort. She did carry the next best thing though: wind dust. Combine that with fire and you get something that anyone would drool over.
She loaded her left gauntlet with the wind dust and her right with fire, conveniently calling the combination Dragonsfire. It was just perfect, she had even come up with the name all by herself as well. Clicking her gauntlets back in place Yang grinned from ear to ear, quickly firing off a round of each, the single flame shots soon became engulfing cyclones of fire. Watching the cyclone grow Yang felt the air become more charged than before. Lighting bolts began striking nearby trees and the ground in front of her. Stepping back she ducked trying to make herself the smallest possible target. The Ursa could only roar in pain it's skin was seared from its body and electric bolts zapped its body. Yang watched as the beast looked to her one last time, through the flames and lightning she could see half of the Ursa's skull was now visible the skin having been burned off. She watched as it took a step forward but fell to its chest as its breathing slowed. Soon the fire surrounding it would burn the rest of the body to ash, the fiery inferno dying off shortly afterwards.
Dusting off her hands Yang began her trek back to her motorbike and the rest of her supplies. However something didn't feel right still, her aura was telling her something was still there. A rustling in the bushes nearby stopped her in her tracks. Slowly she turned around to face whatever was coming out. Raising her fists she readied herself for any attack.
Running out from beneath the bushes was a small racoon desperately trying to escape the fire that she had started. Breathing a sigh of relief she lowered her arms as she cracked her neck. "I guess I should do something about this fi-..." she was cut off as something else came at her. From above the tree line she saw a flaming tree trunk coming at her, Yang rolled onto her knees and out of the way, then directing her attention in the direction she believed the tree trunk came from. Squinting her eyes she strained to see through the growing smoke. Just barely did she see the giant mass barreling towards her through the smoke and ash.
"ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAR…" the ground began shake as something far more powerful approached. One by one trees fell to either side. The ground shook more intensely as heavy steps followed with the roaring and trees falling. Yang kept her arms braced for what was to come. Bursting from the tree line came the oldest and most damaged Ursa Major Yang has ever seen. Deep gashes and scrapes dotted the bone of the grimm from past fights. Some looked to have come from other grimm, but most were man made. Rolling she narrowly escaped being hit by more debris thrown by the grimm. Looking back towards where the Ursa was, wait where did it go?.
Yang began to look around frantically for any sign of her foe. A shadow appearing behind her caused Yang to dive forward as a massive paw came crashing down right where she was. Dammit this is bad, I can't see anything in this smoke.
Weiss carefully trudged through the brush of the forest, her weapon in hand just in case she ran into trouble. She did come across a couple Beowulf on her journey but nothing she couldn't handle. With all this traveling she wished she considered bringing more comfortable combat heels, or even just plain boots like what Ruby wore...Ruby, it's been too long since she's last seen her, she wondered how she's been after all these years. She's heard stories of a girl in a red cape traveling Remnant and clearing out entire hoards of Grimm on her own with a big scythe, so she had to guess that maybe things were going quite well for her—unless some of those stories were of other huntsman and huntresses who just so happened to wear red capes, but if those stories included a scythe it was certainly undeniable.
She's heard other stories too, of a girl with a golden arm. She'd be intrigued to hear that Yang was taking on both bandits and grimm, probably still looking for her mom and just not having any luck. She could only imagine how angry she was after each camp of bandits turned out to be the wrong one. She's also heard stories of parts of forests being burnt, sometimes property being destroyed (though mostly abandoned), it was hard to imagine Yang not being the force of nature she was while taking on missions. It was the kind of fire about her that was fueled by everything in her life that has happened to her. Yang was miserable after what happened to her arm, then that misery turned to doubt, and doubt into anger and contempt- she knew that Yang had seven years to let this anger broil, and she could only imagine what kind of person she was now. Frankly she was scared to find out.
The more she walked the more the air came to smell...different. It was familiar, like something was...something's burning, she thought. She found a clearing in the trees and noticed smoke, wherever it was coming from she knew she was close. In the distance she could've sworn she heard gunshots, gunshots of a particular variety of weapon of which the clank it let out when loading another shot was unforgettable, it has to be her.
She stepped a little faster for some ways, probably about a quarter mile before the sounds really began to clear up. The smell of smoke became stronger and even seen below the tree line. She then heard the yells, and that's what confirmed it was who she was looking for, that's definitely Yang.
Trees cackled as the flames grew thicker and more smoke filled the air. One could barely breath in the forest at this point. Coughing, Yang rushed forward to where she last saw the grimm, firing off a shell she hit the Ursa Major in its chest. Roaring in pain the beast stammered back before shaking its body of the flames. The Grimm stood up on its hind legs before slamming its paws into the ground creating a shockwave. The wave knocked Yang backwards as she tumbled on the ground. Her side slammed into a tree as she let out a cry of pain.
Reaching down, Yang felt her side where she hit the tree, she could feel the cuts and scrapes along her side, blood flowing from the ones worse for wear as she moved her hand along her torso. Slowly standing up, Yang pulled out her rolled up shirt and wrapped it around her neck, using it as a filter she took in a deep breath. Tying her shirt around her face she brushed the dirt off herself. Checking her ammo she readied herself for the next attack, however she saw it too late. The Ursa with its shadow looming over her swung its paw down right on top of her. Closing her eyes she prepared for the worst, I'm sorry Ruby.
As quickly as she could, Weiss laid out glyphs in the direction of the gunfire. She soon found herself climbing up higher and higher into the air. Plumes of smoke were rising above the trees in front of her. She could feel the heat of the fire on her face as she neared the clearing. As she cleared the treeline she saw the Ursa Major, it was absolutely massive. Using her semblance she launched herself up into the air just above the fight that was taking place. Activating another one of her glyphs she held herself in place.
"Well here goes nothing," Weiss mumbled to herself as she steadied her aim. Focusing her aura she soon felt it surround her body. With a swift motion of her wrist she summoned a multitude of Ice Spikes. As quickly as they formed around her they flew through the air slamming into the ground around the Ursa.
Cold, she felt cold, but what's more is she still felt the pain from her earlier injury. Cracking open her eyes the first thing she noticed was white. White was everywhere, a soft blanket of snow covered most of the forest floor where she stood. Small pockets of dirt could still be seen where a fire once stood. The Ursa Major with its paw raised just above her was stuck in place by giant spikes of ice. Yang slowly chuckled to herself before flicking the Grimm on the forehead.
"Heh...not so tough now."
Stumbling forward her gaze faded in and out for a moment. A set of footsteps behind her caused her to swing around. Icy blue eyes met Lavender for the first time in six years, however lavender quickly faded back to red as Yang stomped over to her former teammate. Rearing her arm back she was seconds away from punching Weiss' face in when the sound of cracking ice caught their attention. Glancing over at the Ursa Major both of them watched as the ice was broken away with sheer force. The Grimm breaking itself free shook the reaming ice from it's body. "Shit..." was all Yang could say as the bear charged at her full force. Blocking its attack she slid back on the ground holding its head in pace. "Well, if you're going to be here at least be helpful!"
Scoffing, Weiss glared at Yang for a moment before summoning a glyph under the beast, flipping it up in the air while Yang took to firing off multiple shots into its back. Yang screamed in fury as each round was let off. Six years of frustration and anger all coming out just from the sight of her. Yang soon found herself lost in thought as she threw punch after punch into the beast. Weiss physically flinched as she watched Yang unleash her pent up fury, glad that's not me right now, she thought.
On her last strike Yang screamed as her hair sparked to life igniting in a blaze that shone brighter than the sun for a moment. With her semblance now on Yang felt all the energy from the hits she took flow through her body. Her cuts healing almost instantaneously as her aura flared. Grabbing hold of the Ursa's fur Yang pulled it back down onto the ground slamming it as she did. Flipping over its body Yang grabbed hold of the fur as it stood up. She proceeded to repeatedly punch its skull as red eyes stared into ones that burned with a fury unlike no other. Each hit slowly chipped away at the bone plating on its head, and soon enough using all her might Yang shattered the bone plating. Looking up to Weiss Yang yelled out, "Weiss get a spike ready!"
Not hesitating Weiss did as she was told and summoned one next to her. Waiting for Yang's signal she felt her heart begin to pound in her chest. She watched as Yang shoved her fingers and hands between the jaws of the bear. Slowly she ripped open its mouth as the grimm let out a howl. "Now Weiss, shoot its mouth!" yelled Yang.
Flicking her wrist, Weiss sent the spike hurtling through the air and right into the open jaws of the Ursa. Piercing out the back of the grimms skull she for sure thought it was dead. Yang however had other plans to make sure it was. As the beasts body slumped to the ground Yang cautiously made her way around to the front, glaring down at. The air became frigid despite the heat waves radiating off of her. Cracking her knuckles, Yang placed her hand on one side of the ice spike and her prosthetic one on the other. Slowly Weiss saw steam rising up where Yang's hands were. Before she knew it she punched the spike and it exploded in a cloud of intense steam. The smell of burning flesh filled the air as chunks of skin and fur fell to the ground off of the Ursa's jaw. Not letting up Yang stood there until there was almost nothing left of the beasts jaw or muscles. Standing back up she looked over her shoulder to Weiss, her eyes still burning a deep crimson red.
A shiver went down Weiss' spine as she watched Yang make her way over to her. Stumbling from side to side the former brawler of RWBY stood in front of her old teammate. Neither one of them speaking as they stared at each other. Swallowing the lump in her throat Weiss decided to break the silence. "H-hey, Yang…"
Not even replying she slammed her fist into Weiss' abdomen using what little strength she had left, which still led to a very forceful punch. Lurching over in pain Weiss grabbed onto the one thing she could; Yang's shoulders. Coughing and sputtering she desperately tried to regain her breath. Squeezing her hands she felt Yang's muscular arms, she remembered how safe she felt when Yang would give everyone her bear hug. She missed them dearly but knew it would be near impossible for her to come back. Opening her eyes the first thing Weiss realized was she was laying her head on something soft. Moving one of her hands down to where her face lied, she pressed her hand down, the skin under her hand felt soft yet firm. Weiss' face soon became flushed the faster her brain began to process what she was feeling; once it came into perspective she realized she just face planted into Yang's chest.
Pushing herself up and off of Yang, Weiss prepared for another punch. Instead she watched as Yang's eyes trailed upwards, and then she fell forward. Grabbing hold of her she kept her ex-teammate from falling down. Now they were both struggling to stay upright.
Looking down, Weiss saw how harsh the years had been on her old friend. Her skin still had its glow but it was now covered in scars. Her hair, once long and wild, was now trimmed but still loose. Picking Yang up from under the shoulders she balanced her up, supporting her with one of her arms as she slowly dragged Yang. Still breathing heavily from the punch, she groaned as she said: "Come on let's get you home."
Tired. She felt tired. Everything that could have gone wrong did, she almost failed to finish the mission...had Weiss not shown up—Weiss, she wanted to punch her back all the way to Atlas. Why she let her help her was something she was still trying to figure out, just the thought of her fueled her semblance to the point of almost burning the...wait, am I on a pillow, she thought. Slowly coming to, Yang cracked open one of her eyes. The dull grey wallpaper of the hotel room basked in the evening sun. Weiss was asleep in a chair in the corner of the room, slumped over in what was probably a very uncomfortable way, but oddly enough it didn't seem, to bother her. She groaned as she sat up, rubbing her shoulder in an attempt to loosen it up. She looked back at Weiss and decided to speak. She asked: "How long?"
Weiss jolted awake at the sound of Yang's voice. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she took in her surroundings, then took a moment to recall the time. "Around five hours, you passed out not long after the fight," she said.
Nodding slowly she got out of bed and stood up, stretching her back and popping it rather violently in the process, it even sent a skin crawling sensation through her body. Looking down she noticed she was in her usual pajamas which meant Weiss must have helped her get into bed, which means now she must have an idea what my life has been like, she thought.
Sitting up, Weiss winced in pain and grabbed her abdomen. Yang's punch, despite her being beyond exhausted, had done a number on her. As she sat she felt that at least one rib was still broken and her side still bruised. She had focused more of her aura into her arms and head as that is where she anticipated the punch to land.
"You should lay flat it will help ease the pain," said Yang, walking over to her stuff. She rummaged around for some fresh clothes to put on after she had her shower. Piece by piece she put together her outfit with one hand, the other lied detached on the single table in the room. "I'm going to shower."
Weiss watched as Yang walked into the adjacent bathroom and turned on the water. Rubbing her side she slowly stood up out of the chair. While it wasn't the best sleep she had it was far from the worst. Something about having Yang in the room with her made it feel more like home, it was a real nostalgic feeling, and she kind of liked it.
Flipping the pillow over to its cool side she flopped down on the bed with a grunt. Everything that she has been through finally taking the full toll on her body. Within minutes soft snores escaped from her as she fell asleep.
Cold showers held three positives for Yang; they were cheap; they were better on her hair; and according to her therapist (whom she only went to see any one day of the year) it helped with her anger. The therapist described it as "quenching your fire". Yang remembered how she scoffed at her with the notion that this might help.
In truth, the water felt like hell for her. Some people would describe hell as a fiery blaze burning hot as the sun, but to her hell was as cold as the grave...and all it took was a freezing cold shower to remind her of the fact. She'd wonder why she continued putting herself through these short experiences of cold that rippled through her body, aside from a therapist saying it would otherwise help. She guessed it was because she either really did take the whole "quenching" thing to heart, or because she hated the person she became so much she just didn't care for the comforts a warm shower might bring. Maybe it was both.
There was a humorous side to this five minutes of hell she went through; she would let her anger boil inside herself and she'd put off literal steam. She could hear the water sizzling and feel remnants of hot water sprinkling off her skin from her own heat.
When her anger reached the point of unbearable she leaned against the wall. Thinking about Weiss made her stomach convulse in a way that made her gag, nearly throwing up. But nothing came, just the gut wrenching and awful taste that came of her empty stomach trying to throw out something that wasn't there. So she simply stood limp against the wall staring blankly (and nauseously) at the tile floor, letting the freezing shower water trickle down her seemingly burning body.
"You let this happen to me…" she said. "You chose your company over me…" she said. "And now-...now," her eyes glowed red hot, the steam grew thicker as the shower water was pretty much evaporated before it hit her, a visible dim orange glow emanated from within and her muscles began to twitch.
*CRACK*
The whole room seemed to shake as Yang struck the wall with her only fist, the insulation behind the tile burned with little yellow embers which were constantly inflamed by her fist. She then said: "And now…" but she couldn't finish. All this anger she built up now was too much even for the shower to contain; she needed to do something else. She reached for the faucet knob and turned the shower off, walking out of what pretty much became a perfectly dry shower, charred footsteps left in her wake as she stepped out of the bathroom.
Grabbing her mechanical arm off the table and snapping it into place she walked over to Weiss, ignoring her clothes and heading straight to the person on her mind.
Weiss laid peacefully on the bed until she felt a strange wave of heat over her. Before she even had a chance to register what was going on she was caught completely off guard as she felt a very strong hand grip her throat, dragging her off the bed and lifting her up off her feet. The next moment she felt her back get slammed against the wall just next to the bed.
After a few long seconds she finally cracked open her eyes, which laid sight on Yang. A very angry, very bare, and very much burning hot Yang. Her hair partially lifted off her shoulders from the incredible heat coming from her, so much so Weiss felt a pain in her own face going red from the close proximity, but the worst of the pain she was in her neck as Yang's hand was practically burning her throat. And the fact that Yang was actually increasing the pressure she was putting on her neck wasn't helping as she was now beginning to struggle to breathe.
"You…" started Yang with a growl, "you leave us...you leave your team...you leave me…"
Weiss was once again taken by surprise as she was thrown across the room, crashing into the chair she sat in earlier. She thought to defend herself by restraining Yang in glyphs, but then thought against it as she knew this would happen, might as well take it for as long as it lasts. Yang continued:
"And now, you have the spine to just show up...out of nowhere like everything would be ok?" she began to yell, "you let everything fall apart! You didn't even try to hold us together, you just left- and for what? For a company you never wanted anyway?"
Yang couldn't see it, but Weiss could. This was cooling her down. She witnessed her collapse to her knees, no longer burning, just what could be the definition of spent; she didn't have anymore to give...at least not right now. But Weiss could tell that this was what she wanted to say the most out of anything else. She did hear something else though. It was not anymore yelling, not even words...it was sobbing. Weiss crawled on her knees towards Yang, who hugged herself while slumped over.
She couldn't contain herself anymore. Tears dripped down from the tip of her nose onto the carpet beneath her as she cried. Her mouth was forced open as she tried to yell some more, but only croaked coughs took her voices place as she couldn't bring in enough air to even speak. She tried to find the energy to stand but every muscle she had was numb with her great emotional pain, it was like she was finally weighed down by something she couldn't lift, a weight greater than anything she'd ever felt. It was a painful experience not brought out of anger, but out of sadness. A sadness she held in for years and only now was it brought out. It only took the wild fire of her fury to bring it forth.
Her sobbing stopped shortly after she felt a pair of arms wrap around her, loose enough to give her enough room to lift her head up. She looked up and with lavender eyes surrounded by bloodshot veins she met the impossibly and equally saddened gaze of Weiss' somber blues. Weiss too had a look on her face that spoke of years of her own pain and internal torment, what could be several novels worth of stories and it was all packed within a pair of icy blue eyes covered in a shroud of welling tears.
In the coolest, quietest, and most sincere voice she could manage, Weiss uttered the words: "I'm so sorry…" then she began to finally cry as well.
They both sunk their faces into each other's shoulders, crying their heads out until they couldn't anymore. Yang was still bare and Weiss was still in great pain, but neither of them cared. All that mattered was this moment, and they both needed this.
The light from the lamp dimly lit the room as Yang sat at the table. A few hours had passed since she and Weiss' had their bout. She was finally taking some time to look over her arm after the fight early that day. Removing her arm from the bronze lock on her stump she set it down on the table. Six years of wear and tear could be seen on its surface, the once shiny metal now dulled with time. Dents and scratches dotted the surface where she would block attacks aimed at her. She ran her fingers over it as she felt another lump rise in her throat. Six years and the pain never left her, always present in the back of her mind constantly reminding her of that day.
Removing one of the plates on her arm she noticed something she didn't see during her fight. Due to blow after blow that was received the thin metal began cracking from the pressure. Dirt and grime filling it causing some of the wires to short circuit. How she managed to finish the fight with it in this condition was a miracle. Grabbing a small set of tools from her bag she set about repairing what she could. Moving some of the dirt out of the way she spotted some damaged wires. Sorting through them some more she realized they were connected to her built in scroll on her arm. A feature that had cost her a good sized paycheck that was worth the money, or so she thought. She turned from the mess of wires to Weiss, who once again was sleeping peacefully on the bed, and mumbled to herself: "That's how she found me…" a slight chuckle escaped her breathe, "Damn thing sends out a signal whenever one gets damaged or broken."
Struggling to clean out the crevices and joints, Yang threw her tools down in frustration. Normally she would have Ruby help her with tasks like these. Leaning back in the chair she let out a sigh. Looking out the window into the night sky she searched for constellations. She and Ruby would stay up late at night back on Patch during the clear nights looking at them. Now they barely had time anymore to enjoy life like they did. Their dad, although proud of them, was also very worried as well. She saw the missed calls on Ruby's scroll after she passed out on the bed from a long mission. Not once did she think that she and Ruby would be were they are when they first attended Beacon. The day the team formed was one of the best days of her life as she watched her little sister step up.
Looking back over her shoulder, Yang glanced at Weiss. Each breath her chest would rise, shutter, and then fall in a rhythm. In her sleep her old teammate had grabbed onto her side, letting out a small whimper as she did. Yang stood up and walked over to the bed and sat on the edge. Gently, she moved some hair from out of Weiss' face hoping to not disturb her sleep. Weiss had been called many things while at school; Ice Queen; Snow Princess; Snow Angel; but no one truly knew her like her team did. That, underneath, everything there was a sweet caring girl. Sliding Weiss over, Yang laid down on top of the bed resting her head on the other pillow.
Could things really go back to normal now that Weiss is here? Knowing Ruby, she would probably slap the shit out of Weiss for leaving. But she always did have a soft spot for the Ice Princess, thought Yang. A soft smile pulled at her lips as she settled into the pillow, stretching her legs out. Maybe...just maybe things will turn out alright in the end. Pulling the sheets and blanket over her she felt the exhaustion come crashing back over her like a wave.
"I hope you really meant what you said today…" Yang whispered as she felt her eyes close, "because...I'm sorry too."