After less than a day, the loose alliance was already crumbling. So, what happened after the Ilia incident?
"Fuck!" Yang screamed as she slammed her fist into the wall. She was enraged, but for the first time in her life. The rage was directed at herself, she didn't regret her actions, she'd stopped regretting years ago when she was taught not to. But this time, this time she hated herself for her actions. She had just gone in for the kill, she assumed Blake was in danger and attacked. Yang only hurt people she thought deserved it, and people her mother told her to hurt.
But, Blake was different. It wasn't just because Yang found her attractive, it was because she wanted to be Yang's friend. Nobody ever wanted to be friends with her, everyone was too scared to get close. There was Vernal, but that wasn't a normal friendship. They had just been brought together by Raven and accepted each other as sisters. So, Blake had been Yang's first real friend, and she had just hurt her. In her mind, Blake now hated her and their short-lived friendship was over.
Yang was now in solitary confinement, and all she could do was think about how she hurt Blake, and unleash her rage. She kept slamming her fists into the walls and screaming profanities. The skin on her hands was shredded, and the walls were covered in blood from the continual punches. No amount of blood or pain was going to stop Yang, she was going to punch until she was forced to stop.
She imagined Blake hating her, and Ruby being scared of her. One stupid mistake, and she had ruined everything. She had to stay strong, she couldn't let herself be weak. But deep down, she wanted to cry. She wanted to cry as she did as a child, back before she was beaten into submission, back before Raven had taught her that crying was for the weak. Yang just couldn't do it, even if she would let herself cry. She didn't know if her body would even let her, it had been so long that she may have lost the ability altogether.
Weiss could only sit and watch, as her 2 remaining cellmates broke down and argued about Yang. Internally, she was having her own argument about Yang. She knew that the blonde was dangerous, but seeing her in action was terrifying. Yang had sprinted across the yard, grabbed her victim before she could even react, and started strangling her to death. She hadn't even cared about the threat of being shot, and it took Blake's pleas for mercy for her to finally stop.
On one hand, Weiss needed protection and Yang was clearly capable of providing it. She would immediately jump into action, and not let up if that's what was required. She would even ignore the threat of her own death, to protect someone.
On the other hand, she couldn't control herself. She misinterpreted a conversation, as a threat to Blake's life. So, what was stopping her from doing the same with Weiss. What if she misinterpreted Ciel or Penny as threats. Those two even together, wouldn't be able to protect themselves from Yang. Maybe, if that happened Yang wouldn't listen to Weiss, as she had with Blake. Yang may have been too dangerous, even without intending to harm people. She still managed to do it.
Ruby was pissed, Yang had been taken away from her. She had only just met her sister, and then thanks to Blake. She had lost her again. There was so much she needed and wanted to know from Yang, and she just wanted to get to know her sister better. But now, she had no idea if or when she would get to see Yang again. "Why Blake? Why didn't you tell her? Why didn't you tell Yang that you were safe?" she questioned relentlessly.
Blake looked at Ruby, she looked at her through the tears in her eyes. She understood why Ruby was mad, she only just found her sister, and now that sister had been taken away. If she had the chance, she would have warned Yang. But she hadn't seen her coming, she was too focused on Ilia. "I'm sorry Ruby, I didn't get a chance." she tried to explain.
"Bullshit, you wanted her to be taken away. You could have stopped her earlier, but you didn't. You care more about that whore who tried to kill you than you care about Yang." Ruby hissed at her. Yang had almost been shot, she had been dragged away, she had been put in solitary, for trying to protect Blake. But what did Blake do, did she thank Yang? Did she apologize for not warning her? Did she defend Yang's actions? No, she made sure that her attacker was alright. She hugged her attacker and confessed her love for her. While Yang was being dragged away.
"You don't get it, Ruby, Yang almost killed the woman I love." Blake hit back. Yes, Yang was only doing what she thought was right. She was doing what she was raised to do, she was being nice in her own messed up way. Yang didn't know any better, but still. She loved Ilia and cared about her more than she cared about Yang. So, of course, she would run to her side rather than Yang's.
"She was trying to protect you, you ungrateful bitch. Yang risked her own life defending you, and you turned your back on her. Also, how fucking dare you tell me I don't get it. My mom had her fucking head blown off when I was 4, I loved her more than you could possibly love that White Fang Bitch. So, you are the one who doesn't get it. That little whore is alive, you haven't lost anything." Ruby was starting to wish Yang had killed that girl, she was starting to hate Blake. So, she wanted her to be hurt. She wanted her to understand what it felt like to lose someone, after all. Blake almost got Yang killed.
Blake felt terrible when Ruby told her what happened to her mother. While she had lost a few friends in the White Fang. Her parents were still alive, and Yang hadn't killed Ilia. So, she truly didn't understand. Part of her wanted to apologize for her insensitivity, but she was still mad about Ilia. Ruby had no right to judge Ilia like that, the girl she loved wasn't evil. She was just misguided by people like Adam, Ilia was just like Blake used to be. "Stop saying those things about Ilia, you don't know anything about her."
What Ruby gathered from Blake's response, was that she didn't care about her mother dying. She was too self-obsessed, to care about anyone but herself and Ilia. That was too much for her to take, she hated Blake. She wanted to hurt her, she wanted to give her what she had coming. All the anger she felt, for what happened to her mother, and for what happened with Yang. All the anger from the hard life she had been forced through, it came out in one explosion of rage.
She threw herself at Blake, knocking the older girl to the floor. She pinned her down and started punching. She slammed her fists into Blake's face, not holding anything back. "Die, Bitch! Fucking Die! I'll kill you! Die!" she screamed. Blake had a nose bleed, from the relentless rain of punches colliding with her face.
Blake was full of her own anger, she wasn't just going to lie there and let Ruby beat her. So she grabbed Ruby and rolled over. Putting herself on top of Ruby, she threw her own punches. Ruby's head bounced off the floor of the cell, as Blake laid into her. Blood gushed from Ruby's nose and her lip as well placed strikes tore up the tender flesh. "Fuck you!" she screamed down at her.
Ruby couldn't throw Blake off, so instead. She went for a headbutt. She slammed her forehead into Blake's face, the force of the blow sent her sprawling backwards. Uncle Qrow's combat training paid off, as she jumped to her feet and stomped over to Blake. The girl was still on the ground, one hand covering her bloodied face. As she tried to push herself up. Ruby took the opportunity and delivered a powerful kick to the side of her head.
Blake was stunned by Ruby's assault on her head, her vision had blurred and she was struggling to recover. Ruby jumped back on top of her, ready to continue her attack. "You ruined everything!" She screamed as she brought her fist down.
Weiss couldn't let the fight continue, both of the girls had reasons to be upset. But killing each other wouldn't help either of them. Ruby screamed at Blake, who was lying dazed on the floor. Ruby's fist was about to connect with Blake's face when Weiss tackled her. She held on to Ruby, trying to keep her away from Blake.
"Get the fuck off me!" Ruby screamed as she tried to pull free of the girl's grasp. Weiss shook her head "No, both of you stop this. You both have reasons to be angry at each other, but you can't just beat each other senseless. Just talk it out, I'm sure you'll be able to work it out. All you need to do is stop going at each other's throats, and handle your grievances in a civil manner."
Blake was out of her daze, and back on her feet. She was mad at herself, for how far she allowed things to get. If she had just kept her cool, and handle things better. Then the fight wouldn't have happened, and they could have resolved their issues earlier. She sighed heavily "Alright Weiss, I'll stop. Ruby, I'm sorry for being so harsh, but there's a lot you don't know. I'll talk this out with you if you willing to do the same."
Ruby stopped trying to fight off Weiss. She felt terrible, it wasn't entirely Blake's fault that Yang had acted the way she had, and she had didn't know enough about Ilia to judge her properly. Blake also had nothing to do with her mother's death, so it was unfair to use that against her. She sighed "I'll stop too. Blake, I'm sorry for being so hard on you, and I'm sure we can fix this if we talk. So, I'm all ears and I'll try to explain myself too if you want."
"Thank you, Ruby, sorry I had to tackle you, but I couldn't let you do any more damage," Weiss said as she let Ruby up. "I don't know her that well, but I'm sure Yang wouldn't want you fighting either," she added. Weiss was sure that Yang would agree with her. She seemed to really care about Blake, and she had already taken to the role of big sister to Ruby. It also seemed that she regretted her actions, and blamed herself for what happened. So, she would really have hated to see the two fight over her and what she did.
The three girls sat on Weiss' bunk, Weiss sat in the middle just to ensure nothing happened between them. "Do you want to start, or should I?" Blake asked. She really didn't mind who went first, there was a lot she had to clear up, and she was sure that it was the same for Ruby.
Ruby wiped the blood from her face and said: "You can start, I don't mind waiting." Ruby honestly didn't know where she would start when I was her turn to open up. She'd either explain what happened to her mother, and how badly it messed her life up. Or, she would say something about how she and Yang, needed and wanted to get to know each other better. So, it was better to let Blake start, she probably had more to explain anyway.
"I guess I should start with what it was like in the White Fang, that should help you understand Ilia and our relationship," Blake said, once Ruby gave her permission to start. It was going to be painful, dragging up the memories. It would make her feel so much worse about Ilia, but these things needed to be said.
"So, the White Fang you see today is nothing like the one my parents started. Back then, it was just about peacefully achieving equality and fair treatment. But, that didn't work too well in the opinion of certain people. People like Adam Taurus, he warped it into a terrorist organization."
She sighed before continuing "Ilia and I joined when we were just kids, back when it was peaceful. We were so committed to the cause, that we stuck with it even when it started to change. We were blind to the truth, Adam changed things and we just went along with it."
Blake started to cry, as the memories came back to her. But she kept going, she had to for Ilia's sake, and for her own sake. "We did terrible things, but we thought we were doing good. Then one day, it hit me. I went with Adam, to destroy the cargo on a train. But, he decided to blow the train up and kill everyone on board. They were innocent people and I tried to stop him, but I failed. He was too far gone, I was thrown off the train and had to watch as the victims burned to death. He got away, and I was capture. That day, I turned my back on the White Fang."
She sighed again, reaching the most important part of the story. "I would have got Ilia to leave with me if things had gone differently. But I was forced to leave her behind, so she felt like I abandoned her. Anyway, she must have been arrested and sent here while I was recovering from my injuries. She was still indoctrinated by Adam, so when she found out about my betrayal. She was expected to find me in here, and kill me."
Her head was in her hands as she came to the most recent, and painful part of the explanation. "She was hurt and confused, she had to choose between killing me and remaining loyal, or sparing me and becoming a traitor. I explained what happened on the train, and why I left her behind. I think she was about to defect and join me. But, that's when Yang got to her. She almost died in front of me, and that's when it dawned on me. I love Ilia, as much as she loved me. I don't know if she still loves me, but I know I love her more than anything."
Weiss and Ruby both looked at her sympathetically. Now, they understood why Blake was so defensive, and why she cared about Ilia so much. "I'm so sorry Blake, thank you for sharing that with us," Weiss said in an unusual display of compassion. Ruby sighed heavily "Oh God, Blake I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said all those things, I shouldn't have been so harsh. If I'd known…" She was stopped by Blake "It's okay Ruby, I forgive you. I'm sure I'll be saying the same to you in a few minutes. If you're ready for your turn."
"Well, I kind of already mentioned it. But my Mom was in the army. She was on leave and she went shopping. Anyway, a guy tried to rob the store and she tried to stop him. You already know how that ended." Ruby explained, once Blake had finished. It hurt to talk about, but she'd explained it so many times. That it wasn't too hard to discuss, and she didn't cry like she used to.
"So, my dad started drinking and I had to be raised by my uncle. Well, he's actually just the brother of my dad's first wife. Turns out, Yang's mom was my dad's first wife. So, the man who raised me from the age of 4, is Yang's uncle." Ruby sighed, she was thinking about how Uncle Qrow never mentioned Yang. She was somewhat annoyed, but she could understand why he'd want to keep her away from Yang.
"Nobody ever told Yang about me, and nobody ever told me about her. So, there's a lot Yang and I need to discuss, we need to get to know each other better. Especially now that we're in here. Apart from Vernal, and maybe you guys. I'm all that she's got in here, and she's all I've got. I'm sure both of you would feel the same if you found out that you had a sister you'd never met. So, I'm sorry for being such a bitch earlier, but I need Yang and having her in solitary confinement means I have to wait even longer to get to know her." She finished explaining, sighing heavily after getting everything off her chest.
Blake and Weiss were intrigued by Ruby's story. It explained a lot about the girl, how she wasn't as her innocence had been corrupted by an unfortunate childhood, and why she was so surprised to meet her sister and angry when she was taken away. They also felt great sympathy for her, they had already felt bad for her, due to the unfortunate circumstances that landed her in prison. But the backstory, just made them feel even worse for the girl.
In another rare display of compassion Weiss said "I'm sorry, life must have been really tough for you. Thank you for letting us hear your story." Ruby gave her a weak smile, her teeth were red from her bleeding lips. "Ruby, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so insensitive, and I should have done more to stop Yang. I hope you can forgive me." Blake said. Ruby sighed "Thank you, Blake, we both said things we regret, and we didn't understand the true impact of our words. So, of course, I'll forgive you."
Poor Weiss, getting dragged into everyone else's problems.