Qrow jumped back, landing atop the side of the bridge. Raven – the demon inside Raven – swiped at where he'd just stood, her hand passing through empty air. She jumped to his level, a low growl rumbling in her throat as she stepped towards him, and he edged away from her, waiting for the next strike.

"Come on, Raven. You're stronger than this," Qrow said. "That thing can't control you if you fight back."

Raven bent low, staring at him with dark eyes. If there was any human emotion in there, Qrow couldn't discern it from the hunger of the demon.

"You can stop this right here, right now. Like Vernal tried to," Qrow said. "Are you really going to let her sacrifice be in vain?"

She leapt and swiped at him again, her fingers missing his face by a hair. Qrow leaned back, swaying at the edge and nearly falling off the bridge.

"Forget diplomacy, then," he said, righting himself and carrying the momentum into a punch. Raven took the blow squarely on her cheek, the impact knocking her off the edge onto the sidewalk below.

Qrow jumped back down, and in that brief second he took his eyes off her, Raven grabbed him by the ankle and stood up. She pulled him off his feet and swung him around, his head bouncing off the ground, and released him at the apex. He crashed against the railings in the middle of the road, gasping violently as all the air escaped from his lungs.

Raven was on him again immediately, thrusting a fist towards his head, and he had less than a second to duck under it. With nowhere to run, Qrow crouched even lower and tackled her to the ground. Knowing that she would barely be phased, he didn't waste an instant getting up and jumping over her, running at full speed towards where she'd dropped her sword before Vernal had fallen.

He grabbed it just in time and spun around, swinging blindly as Raven pounced on him again. The blade pushed against her Aura for a moment, before it pierced through and cut a line across her upper left arm. Raven shrieked and stumbled back, looking at the blood as if she didn't understand it, except for the pain it caused. And then she looked at him again, and Qrow felt a chill run down his spine.

He raised the sword to try and keep Raven at a distance, but she moved faster than he could follow, dashing to his left and smashing his hand against the hilt of the blade. The sword went flying, falling on the road meters away and bouncing out of reach. Not that he could have tried to recover it – in an instant, Raven grabbed him by the throat and shoved him to the ground, holding him there.

Qrow tried to push himself up, but he was paralyzed under Raven's grasp – he would have had more success pushing a mountain off of him. He wrapped his hands around Raven's wrist and looked her in the eyes, but there was nothing there. Dark dots filled his vision…

Where was his damned luck when he needed it?

Suddenly, a bright light blasted onto them from above. Raven turned her head away, grunting, and the pressure on Qrow's neck lightened just a smidge. Gritting his teeth, he pulled back both his feet and kicked her in the belly, finally getting her off of him. As she fell on him again, Qrow shifted into a bird, and flew around her and outside her reach.

Qrow flew upwards, watching as Raven whipped her head around searching for him, and landed atop one of the bridge's support cables. He shifted back and looked up. A Beacon helicopter hovered above the bridge, shining its floodlight on the road. He took out his Scroll.

"Agent Branwen," a voice greeted him. "You activated Code Red. Do you require reinforcements?"

Qrow looked down at Raven. She'd stopped searching for him, and was now turned towards the east end of the bridge, looking at the distant lights of the police blockade.

"No. The target's too dangerous to be approached." Qrow said. He couldn't risk bringing any more agents into this. If Raven got her hands on any of them for even a second, they'd be done for. "I need you to keep the bridge clear, and evacuate all civilians from the vicinities."

"We are working on that."

"I'm re-engaging the target," Qrow said. "If either of us falls, you are not to interfere."

"Agent Branwen?"

"Just do as I tell you."

He shut off his Scroll and flew back down to Raven. She spun around as he landed behind her, her lips curving in a snarl.

"So, Sis. All that anger you carry about me weighing you down when we were kids?" Qrow said. "I think it's time for some physical therapy."

He rolled his shoulders and took a defensive stance.

"And you. The thing inside her. I know she's one hell of a brute, but you and I-" he cracked his knuckles "-we could do a lot of damage together."


"Okay, this is as far as I'll take you," the taxi driver said, stomping on the brakes to stop the car. "You sure there's not someplace else I can drop you?"

Yang leaned forward to look past the hood of the car. A police blockade flooded the road with blinking red and blue lights, and sirens echoed nonstop. She could see the shape of the Higanbana Bridge a handful streets past that, with two helicopters hovering above it with blinding floodlights.

She gave her father a look, and he shrugged from the passenger's seat.

"Yeah, this is where we get off," Yang said, looking at the driver. "Unless you wanna take some extra cash and run that blockade for us?"

The driver's face twisted in a scowl. "The twenty-five for the ride will be enough, miss."

She got out of the car, as did her father. He took his wallet out and handed over a fifty-lien bill through the window. "Keep the change," he said. "And get far away from here."

The driver didn't have to be told twice, turning the car around and driving away without a word of protest.

"Think they're evacuating the area," Taiyang said as they walked towards the blockade. "Whatever's going on, it's something serious."

"And Uncle Qrow's involved," Yang said. "I need to get to him, Dad, but you're not coming with me. It's too dangerous. But can you help me get past the blockade?"

Her father stopped for a moment, frowning as he looked at the bridge. He sighed and rubbed his nose, then turned to her.

"I know you'll do everything to help Qrow," he said. "But don't do anything too rash, okay? You know he wouldn't want you to."

"Sure," Yang said, faintly nodding.

"Okay." Taiyang turned towards the police. "I've forgotten the secret handshake, but I think I can run ahead and distract them. You wait a couple minutes, and then… do your thing."

Yang let him walk ahead and watched as he engaged one of the policemen at the blockade. She couldn't hear a word of it, but it looked like a lively conversation, especially as Taiyang started to gesticulate wildly at random objects in the street. Another two policemen joined them, and he only got louder and began stomping on the road over and over.

Guess he learned from the best. Yang took a slight step backwards, then burst forward in a dash towards the blockade. The policemen noticed her much too late, turning their eyes away from Taiyang to see her land on the hood of one of the cars and jump off, continuing her sprint in the direction of the bridge.

"Hey, you can't do that!" one of the policemen yelled and started towards her. "Turn around! This area is under-"

Taiyang gasped and grabbed the man's arm, yanking him back. "What is the meaning of this? Why can she pass and I can't? My children are starving, and I'm stuck here, being discriminated against!"

"Sir-"

"No, I demand to talk to your superior!"

The shouting faded behind her as Yang ran. Another blockade stood in her path at the bridge entry, two police cars, but with no one present nearby to guard them. She didn't stop to consider why, jumping over and entering the bridge itself.

She looked up at the helicopters – they were aiming their lights near the middle of the bridge, and she assumed there to be where the action was happening. As she got closer, she felt a coldness surge from her stomach and spread to the rest of her body, and her arms and legs started to tingle. She almost stopped and lowered herself to the knees, suddenly short for air, but she pushed through and kept moving.

When she got there, she wished she had stopped.

Qrow lay in the middle of the road, propping himself up with his hands. He was turned away from her, so Yang couldn't see his face, but the way he trembled and how his chest rose and fell told her everything.

And standing before him was Raven, black eyes and black veins, and blood dripping from her knuckles. She walked towards him, one measured step at a time, almost as if she delighted in her slow approach.

Yang stood paralyzed.

And then she saw Raven stop in front of Qrow and raise her hand, and she exploded, crossing the distance in an instant while a scream tore free from her lungs. Raven looked up a second too late, Yang driving a foot into her chest, and she went flying, hitting the side of the bridge with the small of her back and falling off it.

Yang breathed hard, her hands trembling. She watched as Qrow rose to his feet, wiping a speck of blood from his lips as he looked back at her.

"Yang," he muttered. The skin under his left eye was beginning to darken. "You shouldn't be here."

"I shouldn't be here? Look at you, you're half-dead!" Yang yelled. "What the hell is going on? Raven-"

"Raven's possessed. As you surely noticed." Qrow looked at the spot Raven had fallen. "We don't have time to talk. She'll come back any moment now, and you need to be gone before she does."

"I'm not going anywhere," Yang said. "You tell me what's happening. Where's Vernal – what happened to her?"

Qrow grimaced. "Vernal's dead. We tried to save her, but… she jumped. She was trying to put the demon back in the crystal for good, but the crystal's broken, so that did nothing."

Yang faltered. Vernal was dead. Because of her.

"What do you mean the crystal's broken?" she said, pushing back her hair. "How is that possible?"

"Don't know. Demon broke it," Qrow said. "Probably realized it was strong enough to do that with Vernal. Or maybe it's just been growing stronger all this time."

"Okay, so what does that mean? What's the plan for stopping that thing?" Yang asked. "You did have a plan, right?"

Qrow looked at her and, realizing she wasn't going anywhere, sighed.

"The demon doesn't have a prison to go back to when its host dies, but it still needs a host. Without one, it'll just die. Vernal said something about it needing to feed off a person's strength to stay alive," he said. "So the plan, Yang, is to get it out of Raven and starve it."

"Starve it," Yang said. "That's why they're evacuating the area? Demon leaves Raven's body, it has no one else to jump to, it dies." She paused. "But what about you?"

"Look at the shape I'm in." Qrow grinned darkly. "I ain't gonna last two seconds if it jumps into me. Worst case scenario, it gets me, it's still doomed."

"No. No way you're sacrificing yourself," Yang said, shaking her head. "That thing isn't taking over anyone else. We're gonna get it out of Raven, and then we're gonna book it. The end."

She swallowed dry, the full reality of what that plan entailed sinking in.

"That means we've gotta kill her, right?" she said.

Qrow nodded, the conviction in his eyes fading for a moment. "We kill her, or we exhaust her 'til she's dead," he said. "No way around it."

The bridge shone red, a portal opening above it for a split second. Raven landed on the road, dripping wet, and slowly rose to stare at the both of them. She leaned forward, the demon's malicious aura washing over Yang.

"Okay. We've got no other choice," Yang said. "We'll do one of those, then."

Raven charged, as did Yang. They met in the middle, the force of the clash nearly sending Yang off her feet, but she planted them on the road and held firm.

Raven's blows came too fast, her arms a blur of motion as she struck at Yang again and again. Without the time to dodge, Yang absorbed every hit and waited for a window of opportunity to strike back, but that was easier said than done. She could barely think under Raven's assault, her very bones rattling with the relentless shockwaves. Fighting a possessed Heather had been arduous enough, and the effect was ten times worse for Raven.

Plus, it was one thing to fight a stranger, even one she was determined to save. It was another to fight her own mother. She had no love for the woman, and she knew those eyes weren't Raven's, but that didn't make it any easier to raise her fist.

But Qrow seemed to have worked through that conflict already before she arrived, as he came running to Yang's side and punched Raven across the face. Her head snapped to the side and she stumbled back, but when she stopped and turned her eyes to Qrow, she looked no worse for it.

Raven jumped towards him, and Yang moved in instinct, putting herself between the two of them. She blocked Raven's fist with her right arm and, all hesitation gone, spun around into a roundhouse kick. Her foot connected with Raven's cheek, and as she staggered to the side, Yang struck again, kicking her directly in the chest, and Raven went reeling backwards.

"So we've got a plan," Yang said. "Do we have another plan for how to execute that one?"

"I've got an idea," Qrow said, stepping back. "You hold her off. I'll be back in a minute."

"What do you mean – you're just gonna leave me here with her?!" Yang said, her eyes widening as she watched Raven steady herself and come running back towards her.

"I've gotta fetch something," Qrow said, and flew away in bird form.

"Motherf-"

Raven tackled Yang, and the two crashed hard on the ground. Raven entangled her fingers in Yang's hair and yanked her head up, then slammed it down on the road. She pulled again to repeat the motion, but Yang gritted her teeth and grabbed Raven's arm, stopping her. She threw her weight to the right to roll them over, but before she could get on top, Raven shoved her off with a kick.

Yang skidded to a halt, and raised her head just in time to see Raven throwing a punch towards her. She stepped aside, barely dodging the attack, and as Raven lurched past her, Yang quickly moved behind her and wrapped an arm around her belly and elbows. Shouting, Raven tried to turn around, but Yang brought her other arm up and grabbed Raven's hair, holding it to keep her faced away from her.

Demon Raven did not take kindly to being immobilized, trashing in all directions and trying to sink her teeth into Yang's arm, which thankfully was just out of her reach. Yang couldn't hope to keep her still, so she followed Raven wherever she threw her weight and held on with all the strength in her.

Eventually Raven realized she wasn't going to get free by brute force alone, and changed strategies, maneuvering them both until they were in front of a pillar, and lunged backwards, crushing Yang against it. Yang gasped and coughed, almost losing her grasp on Raven's hair. Raven jerked back and forward without mercy, every impact harder than the last.

Just as Yang thought she was going to lose her grip, Raven swung them forward again, and stopped. Yang winced, waiting for the next collision, but it never came.

"That's right." She breathed out, resting her forehead against the back of Raven's neck. "Settle down…"

Now if only Qrow would show up already.

She felt Raven stir, and a familiar tingle prickled the small of her back. It took a moment to remember where she'd felt it before – and as she looked up and saw a portal open in front of her, her face paled.

"No. No no no no-"

Raven jolted forward, and they went hurtling through the red vortex.


"Where is it? Where the hell – there!"

Qrow practically threw himself to the floor, reaching under a railing and getting Raven's sword out of there. He turned it in his hand as he rose to his feet, grimacing as he considered what he was going to use it for. But there was no time for doubt – Yang was locked in combat with Raven as he dallied, and a minute more without his help might spell her death.

He clutched the sword tight and shifted, quickly flying back the way he'd come. But as he passed the middle of the bridge, where he'd left Yang and Raven, he saw nothing. The road, as far as he could see in both directions, was deserted.

"Yang?" Qrow called out as he landed, but no response came. He didn't hear fighting either. Had they fallen off the bridge while he'd been gone?

He started to walk towards the edge, but stopped as a prickling sensation spread from the back of his neck. He turned around and looked at the road, empty – but it hadn't been moments before.

"…Shit."


Yang hit the ground.

Or at least she thought she did, because she couldn't see a thing. It certainly felt like she'd fallen on solid ground, but when she looked down, she saw nothing but black. Even as she stood up and waved her fingers in front of her face, she couldn't see anything.

Panic seized her. She was blind. She was never going to see again. She had been taken somewhere and she was going to die here and she would be alone and she would never know-

Something struck her in the back of her neck – a fist – and she went tumbling face-first into whatever lay beneath her. She tried to catch herself and get back up, but a kick to her stomach sent her sprawling on her back, and then her assailant fell upon her, mauling at her chest with claw-like fingers.

"Get…" Yang pulled an arm back and swung it around brutally, batting the creature off of her. "…off!"

She jumped to her feet and shouted, fists clenched, and fire spiraled around her , piercing the darkness for a precious few seconds. Her eyes widened – she wasn't blind. There was just no light in this place. No light at all.

So she'd have to make her own.

Yang thrust her arms out to the sides, focusing on that distant heat inside of her. For a moment, nothing happened, and she only felt the heat grow fainter in her mind. But she refused to let go of it, pushing aside the pain and exhaustion to grab it in her hands, and pulled.

Like wine from an uncorked bottle, the flames came pouring out, swirling around her skin like a second Aura. She puffed out her chest, and the fire extended beyond her, shining upon the darkness surrounding her. She still couldn't see much, the dark so thick it was like a living force, meeting the fire and squashing it before it revealed what lay in the void.

But it was light. And as Yang slowly turned in place, she saw Raven's sickly face at the edges of it, staring at her like a cowed animal. But as they met eyes, the fear vanished, and Raven pounced.

Yang raised her arms to shield her face. Embers jumped off her as Raven met her defense with a punch. The impact was dull, the pain an afterthought. She kicked Raven away, and followed her trajectory to smack her into the ground.

Before she could make contact, Raven found her balance and turned around, running off into the darkness. Yang skidded to a halt.

"Seriously, you're gonna run away now?" she shouted. "Get back here, you-"

Suddenly, Raven came running from the right and swiped her nails across the small of Yang's back. Yang spun to grab her, but Raven jumped back and disappeared in the shadows.

"Oh this is cute," Yang said. "Can't fight me like a real demon so you're gonna pull this cheap shit now. Just wait until I get my hands-"

She caught a speck of movement to her left, and turned to grab Raven before she could strike her – but the attack came from the other side. Unprepared as she was to take the hit, she fell to her knees and didn't even see Raven before she was gone again.

Raven came out of the shadows, smashing her knee into Yang's face as she stood up.

And again, from the left, kicking her on her side and sending her sprawling.

A foot on the back of her head, slamming her nose into the ground.

"That's enough!" Yang shouted, jumping to her feet and turning instinctually. She looked into the darkness, locking onto Raven with a sense that went beyond sight or hearing, and launched a soaring flame from an outstretched fist.

The fire pierced through the darkness, visible for but a moment before it was engulfed in it. Yang heard an inhuman shriek, and lowered her hands. The flames around her shrunk, but became no less intense.

"This is it. If there's any small part in your primitive little mind that's capable of thought, then accept it - you're beat," Yang said, her voice carrying across the void like the crackling of a bonfire. "Now you're gonna stop putting off the inevitable and take me back home, so we can finish what we started. Understood?"

She felt Raven stand. A portal opened behind Yang, and she turned to look.

It wasn't back home.

"Alright, then," she said. "You want a struggle… I'll give you one."

Raven came out of the darkness to tackle her into the portal, and Yang let her.

For a moment, they drifted through pulsating red energy, before they came out the other side – into water. Endless, all-encompassing water.

Steam rose in thick clouds around Yang, her eyes widening as she stared into Raven's eyes. The woman's lips curled, her teeth showing in the perverse twist of a smile.

Clever, Yang thought. But not clever enough.

She smacked Raven's face with the back of her hand, making her let go of her, and shoved her away. They floated apart, Raven trying to grab Yang's foot, but she spun over and slammed it down atop Raven's head. She stomped for good measure, and Raven went slack, drifting gently downwards.

And stay down.

Bubbles escaped Yang's lips, and she felt her chest start to constrict from the lack of air. She looked around wildly, trying to make sense of where she was. Where was up? Was there even an up in this place?

Finally she saw a faint light above her, and swam as fast as she could towards it. Her vision started to darken, air running out, and she reached out…

She broke through the surface, gasping for air. By some cosmic coincidence, or magic she couldn't hope to understand, there was oxygen there, and it filled her lungs just as well as Remnant's did. She looked to the sides and saw more water, stretching into every direction with seemingly no end. Then she looked up, and saw herself.

Yang blinked. What was she looking at? Just a couple meters above her head was… another surface. Another ocean, just as calm and fathomless as the one she floated in. How could that be? How did it not come crashing down with gravity?

Yang stopped asking those questions as she looked at her reflection. She almost thought she was looking at someone else for a moment, perhaps some alien version of her from another reality. Because surely that couldn't be her – her hair wasn't golden like that, and it wasn't supposed to glow like sunlight, and her eyes… Sometimes they turned red, when she was particularly angry or agitated. But not like this.

Not like her mother's.

She felt a tug on her leg, and suddenly she was submerged again, her head reeling back as a hand smashed against her nose. Raven appeared above her, dipping her head above the surface for a second, before she closed her hands around Yang's throat and held her under.

Yang kicked Raven repeatedly, trying to force her off her, but the demon didn't seem to care about the pain. They trashed under the water, but as much as Yang struggled, she couldn't get to the surface.

The water boiled around them. Yang stopped trashing, and turned her eyes to Raven's hands around her throat. She grabbed her wrist, and with her free hand, took every finger and forcefully pried them off. Raven's agitation was palpable, her head vibrating as she impotently watched Yang free herself.

The last finger came off, and Yang surged upwards, elbowing Raven in the face as she passed her. She breathed in deep, then turned her attention downwards as Raven came up to follow her. Yang grabbed her head before she could get to the surface, and pushed her down in a reversal of their struggle a moment before.

Raven was strong. The demon made her even stronger. At the beginning of their battle, Yang had barely been her match. But now it felt like she was holding back a child, and she didn't budge an inch as Raven trashed and kicked at her.

You're done.

Gradually, Raven stopped struggling. Her limbs went slack, and she turned her eyes to meet Yang's. For the first time Yang saw something akin to emotion in them, the immeasurable anger and despair of a beast that had finally found an enemy it couldn't hope to defeat.

And in those dark orbs reflected the glow of Yang's red.

Yang trembled. The gold of her hair faded, and the water cooled around her. She let go.

Immediately, Raven sprung to action, grabbing Yang and swinging her around, hurling her towards the depths below. Yang barely registered the glow of a portal beneath her before she passed through.

She fell into a blizzard and hit snow.

Yang's eyes stung from the sudden brightness. She shielded them with her arm, keeping them open just a smidge to look at her fingers. She tried to make a flame jump off of them, or melt the snow around her, but they only shook in the cold, turning purple at the tips.

Raven dropped through the portal, landing right on top of Yang, and immediately started wailing on her. She curled up, but it did little to soften the blows, each subsequent one driving her deeper into the snow. It seeped through her clothes, and the biting cold combined with the glare of Raven's gaze brought tears to her eyes.

"St-top it! Raven!" Yang shouted. "Mom!"

Raven ignored her, grabbing her by the throat with one hand and lifting her off her feet. She pulled back her other hand, closing it for a final strike…

A noise rang through the air, so low it was barely audible, but it pierced through the storm anyway. Raven lowered her hand, a frown forming on her face. Yang saw a blur of motion behind her – and suddenly there was a creature clinging to Raven's neck, a silver-furred fox, its teeth biting into her skin.

Raven dropped Yang on the ground and yanked the fox off her neck. She made to toss it away, but it scurried around her hand and ran up her arm and shoulder, grabbing onto the back of her clothes with its tiny claws. Raven growled, spit flying off her mouth as she spun and tried to grab the animal.

As Yang crawled backwards, barely believing what she was seeing, another fox jumped out of the snow, and another, and another – too many for her to count. They circled Raven, their antennas bobbing up and down as they screeched at her, while some went on to jump on her legs and bite them.

"Holy shit," Yang muttered. She'd been lucky before. If that one fox she'd chased hadn't been so alone…

More and more foxes climbed onto Raven, until she collapsed under their weight, throwing up a snow cloud that obscured her from view. Yang stood up, wiping her eyes. Was this it? Was Raven done? If so, what – what was she supposed to do now?

But Raven wasn't done. A furious shout echoed through the blizzard, and she rose up, throwing the foxes of her. She had one in each hand, and she tossed them aside like they were dolls. Those went tumbling through the snow, releasing pained yells, and the entire pack ran off scared.

Yang and Raven stood, staring at each other amidst the storm, both breathing hard and slouching from their wounds.

Yang clenched her fists. The fire from before had yet to return, and she felt like any hit she took from now on might be the one to knock her out. But she was going to keep fighting. She was going to see this through to the end.

Raven seemed to detect that in her. Or maybe she just decided it was time to go. Setting her jaw, she took a step back, and a portal formed behind her.

"No, you don't," Yang said. "I'm not done with you yet."

She ran towards Raven, grabbing her by the collar just as she put a leg through the portal. They passed through, it closing behind Yang, and they once again drifted through the red vortex.

Unlike before, however, they didn't leave it. They stayed, floating weightlessly in the veil between worlds. Raven glared at Yang, trying to shake her off, but Yang refused to let go.

That sense of weightlessness lessened, replaced by a building pressure from head to toe, as if she were sinking deeper and deeper into the ocean. Yang grabbed on tighter. She looked at her hands and saw they were becoming fuzzier every second. It wasn't just her vision. Whatever physics held her together, the forces that made the collective matter that was she, were coming apart, and soon there would be no she. No Yang. Not a single atom.

They drifted, and black started to creep into the red around them, until there was nothing but black. Their trajectory took a turn, an invisible force pulling them along towards an ultimate destination… out of the vortex.

They landed side-by-side in rock-hard soil. Yang rose to her knees and looked. Black fields stretched on, broken up by spires of purplish crystals and viscous lakes. The sky was a sickly red, with no sun, no star, no moons. It was night, and it was cold in an entirely different way from the snowstorm they'd left.

Yang clutched her chest. She knew this feeling. It wasn't entirely different from the one she got from the demon. It was less intense, in a way, but there was a hopelessness that came with it. It brought it with it the knowledge that it would never truly be gone, even when she didn't feel it anymore.

Grimm.

It was Grimm she felt.

Yang jumped to her feet and looked at Raven. She was still on the ground on her hands and knees, shaking uncontrollably. Yang walked around her, awed by the sight, and saw her eyes changing from black to red in quick succession. The emotion they held didn't change, though. The sheer terror never left her eyes.

Suddenly, the sensation that afflicted Yang grew a hundred times worse, and she felt herself started to shake too. She looked around, seeing red eyes springing into view in the distance, but those didn't phase her. Something was coming. Something was coming and she did not want to be here when it arrived.

"Raven!" Yang said, crouching beside Raven. "We've got to get out of here now."

Raven didn't move.

"Come on, focus!" Yang yelled. "Do you want to die here?"

Raven blinked, her eyes going red, and for a good five seconds, they remained so. She gestured weakly with a hand, opening a portal in front of her, and by the time she was done with the motion, her eyes were black once again.

"Good enough," Yang said, grabbing Raven by the shoulders and shoving her through the portal. She jumped after her, and a moment later, she stood upon red-colored grass.

Yang looked around, seeing a river of fire in the distance, and fire trees beyond that. She looked towards Raven, who was kneeling on the ground. Her face was stained with tears, but she didn't move or make a sound.

"This isn't Remnant," Yang said. "Did you not get the memo? This is over."

She walked over and laid a hand on Raven's shoulder, but no sooner had she done that, Raven stood and slapped her across the face with the back of her hand. Yang stumbled back, touching her cheek. She looked into Raven's eyes, and saw only black.

Yang set her jaw. She walked over to Raven and, without saying a word, put a hand to her sternum and shoved her to the ground. Raven fell on her back, snarling, but she didn't dare move as the air around Yang ignited. The flames spun around her, faster with every second and growing in intensity, a roaring inferno that consumed everything it touched.

Yang's feet left the grass, and she slowly ascended towards the sky. She stopped and looked down, her eyes burning with the wrath of a vengeful goddess. She closed her right hand into a fist, and plummeted towards Raven, soaring the air like a comet…

…and punched the ground just beside Raven's head.

"You need a strong host so bad," Yang said, "I'm right in front of you."

She held Raven's gaze, their noses almost touching.

An eternity passed.

Slowly, the dark veins on Raven's face faded, and she fell back on the grass. Her eyes returned to their natural color, and she opened her mouth, releasing a haunting screech-

-in the blink of an eye, the demon flew from her lips and slipped between Yang's own.


For a moment, Yang didn't feel any different. She stood upright and stepped back, away from Raven, and looked at her hands. She moved her fingers one by one, then made fists and felt the strength course through her.

Then she realized she hadn't moved. She hadn't told her body to move – it had done so out of someone's else accord. And as she tried to lay her hands flat against her hips, they refused to obey.

The realization should have sent her into a panic. She knew that intellectually. Her body moving against her commands – was there a more terrifying thought than that? But she didn't feel distressed, or even bothered. She felt… nothing. Why should she worry about not being in control? That was for the best. It meant she didn't have to deal with all those things that had been so troublesome about life.

Her eyes turned to Raven, laid unconscious on the grass, bruised and bleeding from the course of their battle. Something cut through the indifference. A raw emotion that consumed her every thought.

Anger.

It would be so easy to stomp on Raven's neck right now. It was what she deserved, after everything she'd put her through. Abandoning her. Sending her into danger. Yelling at her when she'd put her life at risk just to help her. The plan had been for her to die, anyway. Yang could just tell Qrow she'd had to do it. She wouldn't even have to pretend to be sad about it.

Qrow. Acting like he was so much better than his sister, but he had kept secrets from her too. Too many secrets. Always coming and going, like the occasional visit was enough to make up for Raven's absence. Probably patted himself in the back for it too.

And Dad. He'd lied to her all her life, and then he had the audacity to act like she should pity him. What did she care if he'd made mistakes when he was younger? Why did she have to pay for them? He was supposed to take care of her, and if he wasn't good enough then he should just own up to it!

And Ruby. Poor little Ruby, lost her mother so early. At least she'd had a mother, one who had actually wanted her and hadn't had to raise her just because she'd been thrust into her arms one day. And look how strong she was, so fearless, fighting evil was her calling and she did it with a smile on her face! And if she ended up in a coffin before her twentieth birthday, well, that just sucked for her family.

And Weiss, always treating everyone else like dirt. Blake, righteous Blake Belladonna, just another hypocrite deep down. Jaune, always sniveling, like the whole world should take pity on him, but he tried so hard! And Pyrrha, perfect Pyrrha, Yang should be so lucky to be a tenth the person she was. And-

No.

She felt the tendrils wrapping around the fire inside her, and she held them at bay.

That's not me. You could never have me.

She burned, and the demon screeched inside her. It unraveled from her soul and fled desperately, reaching for the outside, but Yang grabbed it by its tail and pulled it back. The world went up in flames around her, and all she saw was red, orange, and yellow.

With a mournful wail, the demon burned into nothing.

The fire died. Yang blinked, closed her eyes, and fainted.


Raven pushed herself up to her knees. She could barely support her own weight, her legs trembling beneath her.

It hardly mattered. The cold hand of terror was still wrapped around her, and all she could think about – if what she was doing could be considered thinking – was getting up and away from here, to find someplace to hide for another twenty years and perhaps never come out at the end.

That all vanished when she saw Yang splayed out on the grass.

Raven crawled over as fast as her body allowed her. She pressed two fingers over the girl's wrist, and sighed as she felt a pulse, faint but regular. She hesitated for a moment before she pulled the hair out of Yang's face and checked her over. It hardly felt possible, but Yang was in an even worse state than she was. And that was to say nothing of her clothes.

Raven shrugged her cloak off her shoulders and draped it over Yang, then stared at her for a while. With her eyes closed like that, she could almost be sleeping. What color would they be if she pried them open, Raven wondered.

Not the one she was hoping for, probably.

Squaring her shoulders, Raven passed her arms under Yang's back and knees, and lifted her up. She almost collapsed, the strain of the battle still there despite the few minutes of rest she'd had. But she found her footing, and after making sure Yang was secure and comfortable, walked away.


Bird daughter wake up?

Yang opened her eyes. She groaned. The world was a blur before her, but she could make out a blotch of bright red hovering close to her face.

Bird daughter wake up! Less hurt?

Yang rubbed the blurriness off her eyes and looked around. She was in a clearing surrounded by maroon trees, with crackling flames in place of leaves. It was a familiar clearing. And before her hovered a familiar sprite.

"Firefly?" she croaked.

Is name bird daughter give. Firefly landed on her nose for a couple seconds, leaning close to her forehead as if inspecting her, then floated back. Less hurt?

"I guess? I've been worse," Yang said. "Probably."

Friend family help recover. Fire help also.

"Thanks," Yang said. "Uh… How did I get here again?"

Bird mother carry.

Yang looked down, taking note of the cloak she was wrapped in. Oh. That made sense. She supposed.

Bird mother fly cliff after arrive. Firefly darted around her head. Want see?

"…Sure," Yang said. "Can you take me there?"

She stood up, and Firefly led her away from the clearing, to the same cliff wall she'd climbed before to get rid of the water. She could see Raven sitting at the top, her legs hanging over the edge, but if she took notice of Yang, she didn't make it known.

"Well that's taking antisocial to a new level," Yang said. She looked at Firefly. "How am I supposed to get up there? I'm way too tired to climb all that way."

Bird daughter fly. Firefly flittered up and down, as if tittering to itself. Apology! Forget bird daughter cannot.

"Listen here, I'll have you know I can fly, actually," Yang said. "I just have to be very angry, I guess."

Dumb.

"Keep dissing me, and next time I'll bring a bucket."

Firefly poked her in the cheek, then flew back to the village.

Yang looked up at the cliff again, wondering if her pride was worth running the risk of breaking her neck. She didn't want to have to ask Raven for help. But the decision was taken out of her hands when a portal opened beside her. She stared at it for a moment, pursing her lips, then sighed and stepped through.

She came out at the top of the cliff, just a few paces behind her mother. Raven looked over her shoulder, then turned to stare at the horizon again. The portal closed, and Yang walked over to sit beside Raven.

"This place," Raven said, not looking at her. "This is where I gave birth to you, you know."

Yang blinked. "No. I most certainly did not know that," she said. "Is that really how you're gonna open this conversation? What am I even supposed to do with that information?"

"I thought you'd find that interesting." Raven sighed. "I'm not good at candid conversations."

"Tell me something I don't know," Yang said. "…Maybe don't, actually."

She looked at the forest below, the hundreds upon hundreds of trees burning bright. She didn't know if there was a night in this place, but she wished there was so she could see how it would look then. It would make for quite a sight, she imagined.

"Is that why I'm… you know. The way I am," Yang said. "A fire child, or whatever."

"I imagine so. Though if so, I didn't do it on purpose," Raven said. "I didn't know what I was doing."

"Oh, is that a running theme with you?" Yang asked.

"Sadly, it is," Raven said. She finally turned her head to look at Yang, red eyes checking her up and down as if to take in every detail. "Are you injured? How do you feel?"

Yang looked away. Raven checking on her was not something she ever expected to happen, especially in such a direct manner.

"I'm okay," she said, embarrassed by how small she sounded. "What about you?"

"I'll be fine," Raven said. She pursed her lips, her eyes fleeing Yang repeatedly before she forced them back. "I'm sorry."

Yang flinched. Add another to the surprise list.

"For beating me up? That's… okay," Yang said. "That wasn't exactly you before. You were being controlled."

"We both know it's not that simple," Raven said. "It was my fault I was so easily controlled. I was… entirely consumed by that thing." She shook her head. "Or do you think it's happenstance that you were able to resist it, and I was not? And Shields. And… Vernal."

"So what, you think it's your fault because you weren't strong enough?" Yang said.

"If only that were the case." Raven grimaced. "No. The issue was, I had nothing else. And that, Yang, is the difference between you and I."

Raven looked into the distance, and Yang saw tears brimming in her eyes. She frowned. This was… new. To feel sad for her mother. A part of her, the part that was still angry about everything, told her Raven didn't deserve it. She'd gotten herself into this position, and she would just have to live with it.

"Well," Yang said. "Maybe it's not too late for you."

Raven glanced at her, her lips curving in a humorless grin. "I hope so."

They stared off at the horizon, the wind blowing gently on their faces, carrying with it a comforting warmth.

"So… Are we going home anytime soon, or…?"


It was the crack of dawn on Remnant. The portal to Qrow dropped them onto the street on the east side of Higanbana Bridge. There were a couple police cars parked on the side of the road, their sirens still blinking, but traffic into the bridge seemed to have resumed while they were gone.

Qrow and Taiyang were nearby, the latter sitting on the steps of an apartment while the other paced about nervously. They both turned their heads to look when the red light of the portal shone on the sidewalk.

"Yang!" Taiyang tackled her into a hug, almost knocking her over. "Oh, thank God! I thought I'd lost you!"

"Dad! Calm down," Yang said, patting him on the shoulders, and thankfully he got the message and backed away. "I'm right here. And, come on, you knew I was gonna be fine. Always am."

"That's easy for you to say," Taiyang grumbled. "I'm the one who has to wait on the sidelines. I swear, how you and your sister haven't made me go bald yet is a mystery."

"Eh." Yang smiled at him. "You're getting there."

Qrow walked over to them, not going for a hug but just ruffling Yang's hair a bit. His relief at seeing her was just as palpable, though.

"Glad you're okay, kiddo," he said. "The demon?"

"Dead and gone," Yang said, putting her hands on her hips. "I crisped it up real good."

"I'll have to get the whole story later," Qrow said.

He turned to Raven, who had backed away a few steps, her eyes glued to her feet.

"Good to see you too," Qrow said. "Here, I held onto this for you in the case that you didn't… you know, die horribly."

He offered her sword to her handle-first. Raven stared at it for a second, before she took it and deposited it back in its sheath.

"Thank you," Raven said. She looked at Taiyang, her eyes boring into him for a moment, before she looked at Qrow. "Vernal."

"Right." Qrow nodded. "They've recovered her body. I'll take you to her."

They walked off, leaving Yang and her father alone on the sidewalk.

"You want to go with them?" Taiyang asked.

"Maybe I should," Yang said. She hadn't had the best relationship with Vernal, for the little time they'd known each other, but she thought they'd found a connection. It only felt right to pay her respects. "But… I don't know if I wanna see that. And I think Raven needs some alone time with her."

Taiyang patted her on the back.

"That was some reunion, huh?" he said. "Don't think she looked at me for more than a second there."

"I don't think she was expecting you to be here," Yang said. "I may have forgotten to fill her in about that."

"Hmm. Or maybe… she got flustered because I've only gotten more handsome in my forties!" Taiyang said, rubbing his chin. "…Is it too soon for those jokes?"

Yang rolled her eyes. "I think it's just soon enough, Dad."

He grinned, no doubt already brainstorming all the punchlines that were now available to him. Which was just fine, because Yang was doing the exact same.

"So, you look like you're about to fall over," Taiyang said. "Wanna go back to the hotel and crash for a whole day?"

"Yes thank you," Yang said, groaning.

"And then go back to Vale after that, I assume?" he asked.

"I don't know… I think I need some time off before I go home," Yang said.

"We'll make this an impromptu father-daughter vacation, then! I know a couple spots around town I'd like to show you," Taiyang said. "How does that sound?"

Yang smiled.

"Sounds like just what I need."


Three Days Later

Qrow wiped the sweat off his brow. He tossed his shovel aside and looked at Raven. She was quiet, the last lights of twilight reflecting off her eyes as she stared at the dirt grave.

It was going to be a chilly night, and Qrow would much prefer to be inside the camp right now, but Raven had made her choice. Maybe Vernal had told her what she would have liked sometime. Maybe she'd gone off what she knew.

"Do you wanna say a few words?" Qrow asked.

Raven frowned. "She knew those were not my forte," she said. "Besides… I don't know what I would say."

"I think she understands," Qrow said. "I might not have known her very well, but for what it's worth… She thought the world of you. And I think she was right to. Not a lot of people would have done what you did for her, Raven."

"Lead her to her death, you mean?" Raven said, and interrupted him before he could speak, "I don't need your platitudes, Qrow. And… we are supposed to talk about the deceased. Are we not?"

Qrow shrugged. He took out his flask and shook it in Raven's direction. "A drink in honor of the worst driver I've ever known?"

"That is forbidden." Raven looked at the flask disapprovingly. "…Hand it over."

Qrow tossed her the flask, and she uncorked it and took a big gulp. No sooner had it gone down her throat, she doubled over and coughed, throwing the flask back at him.

"That's the vilest thing I've ever tasted," Raven spat. "Is your tongue defective?"

Qrow chuckled. "You're adorable."

He took a small sip, then corked the flask and put it away. He stood with Raven beside the grave, hands in his pockets, as they waited for the sun to go down.

"What do you do," Raven said, "when you tell yourself a lie long enough that it becomes reality? How do you come back from that?"

"That, I think, is something you need to answer for yourself, Sis," Qrow said. "But I'll help you however I can, if you need me."

He fully expected her to ignore his offer, but Raven was full of surprises lately.

"There's one thing you can do for me," she said, nodding back at the camp. "All those artifacts I've accumulated over the years. I want you to take them. Hand them to Beacon, drop them in the ocean – I don't care. I just want them off my hands."

Qrow frowned. "Where's this coming from?"

"I'm disbanding the tribe," Raven said.

"Just like that? What about all those people?" Qrow asked.

"They can do whatever they want. They can stay together, for all I care," Raven said. "I'm just done digging graves."

Qrow took out his flask again. That called for another drink.

"Here's to that, Sis," he said. "Here's to that."


"Bye, Miss Yang!" Sadie said, waving at her from behind her father's legs. "It was nice to see you!"

"Hey, it was nice to see you," Yang said, crouching to ruffle her hair. "I promise I'll visit again sometime. If that's okay?"

She looked up at Brian, and he nodded with a tired smile on his lips. "That would make Sadie's day if you could, so yes."

"It's settled, then," Yang said, winking to Sadie. "But I've gotta go save the world now. Ruby's waiting for her partner to come back, you know."

"Tell her to kiss her robot girlfriend already!" Sadie exclaimed.

"Oh, I don't know if that would be any help. Trust me, we've all been waiting for that to happen."

She stood up, and Brian put a hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you," he said. "Really."

Yang smiled. "It's okay."

He nodded and closed the door.

Yang stood on the porch for a moment, her eyes stinging now that she didn't have to put on a strong face anymore. That had been difficult, but therapeutic too. And she fully intended on keeping her promise, and nothing was going to stop her this time.

She turned and walked down the steps, taking a deep breath on the sidewalk. Now to catch her flight back to Vale. And then her very normal life resumed…

"That was very thoughtful of you."

Yang jumped and nearly screamed her lungs out. Luckily she held herself back – Brian would have probably thought she was getting murdered or something. She turned to face Raven, who looked at her with a perfectly composed expression on her face.

"Hellhounds on a stick," Yang grumbled, rubbing her eyes. "Can you try and work on your openers, please?"

Raven raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you going home?"

"Yes…" Yang said. "Is this going to be a thing now? You stalking me, materializing out of the shadows like it's no big deal?"

"Qrow told me you were leaving tonight," Raven said. "I don't like airports."

Yang crossed her arms, waiting for Raven to elaborate. "Is there something you wanted to tell me, or…?"

"Do you remember what we felt before," Raven said, "in the Grimm plane?"

Oh, Yang remembered. It had gotten better as the days passed, but she still felt a chill on her spine whenever she thought back to that moment. She was sure to have a couple nightmares about it soon.

"I do," Yang said. "Why? What was it exactly?"

"That… was the enemy," Raven said.

Yang nodded. "Mhmm. And that's characteristically vague of you. Anything to add?"

"You're fighting a war, and you couldn't comprehend the scope of it. On that path awaits only suffering," Raven said. "I strongly advise you to reconsider your plans."

"I don't really have a plan," Yang said.

"All the more reason to start thinking of one."

Yang squinted. Raven was a serious person by nature, that much she knew, but she could tell she was being especially serious right now.

"Well… While I commend you on a strong, if unusual pitch…" Yang said. "I've gotta say no. Someone's gotta fight the good fight. And you know first-hand there's no one better than me."

"Well." Raven sighed. "I can't say I expected you to be convinced. You're a braver person than I'll ever be."

Yang beamed. "Thanks!"

"…and infinitely dumber."

"Aw."

Raven smirked. "See you, kid." She stepped back, the air around her shimmering as she started to shift.

"Wait, I have so many-"

Raven flew away, disappearing in the night sky.

"-questions."

Yang groaned. Raven's openers were terrible, but in contrast, her closers were pretty stylish. Still, both were equally infuriating.

"See you, Mom."

YANG XIAO LONG

WILL RETURN


It's over! Eight chapters, eight weeks. And I only almost had to delay the last chapter.

This story was quite a challenge to write in certain aspects. Writing for a character like Raven, whose characterization hinges so much on a backstory that the reader only know pieces of... That's tricky. I hope I did the story I wanted to tell with her justice. And there's more to come on the Raven front, so if you've still got questions... Those will probably be answered in the future.

Was also difficult to balance the humor that's part of Yang's character, with the serious turns of the plot here. That was especially tough in the later chapters. Hopefully it was fine?

But anyway. For those following in real time, I'm gonna try a new thing and wait a few days before I upload the post-credits extras. So Tuesday or Wednesday, probably. And then you can expect a couple (overdue) chapters for Tales, and then... JUNIPER! YAY!

As always, thank you for reading, and I hope you liked the story! Until next time!

-Zeroan