Chapter 6: Miles Apart

Yang felt her whole world fall apart. The sounds of people and grimm screaming flooded all but in front of her. Looking ahead was silent but at a cost; he stood walking towards her if she even dared look at him. Yang tried to fire bullets at him, but he phased through each and every one of them. She couldn't stop him, and she paid the price for it: her arm.

Yang's eyes shot open. She had been having a nightmare almost every night since the Fall of Beacon, and tonight was no exception. She got up out of bed and walked to the bathroom to get washed up. She stood at the sink, staring at her eyes for a few moments while the water ran from the faquet below. She looked over to the clock she had put in there a few weeks back. It was 4:30 am. She just looked at herself, her eyes looked over to see a bird sitting outside of her window. She couldn't put it, but Yang swore it's red eyes were glaring directly at her. She turned back to splash more water on her face and thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye looking into the house. She turned and instinctively tried to punch it, only for the figure to catch her fist.

"You know, I was only coming in as I heard the water." Taiyang tiredly spoke, turning on the light. "I spooked you didn't I?" he asked, as he put his hand on her shoulder. "To be honest, I thought that Zwei had turned it on."

"Hey dad." Yang spoke, turning to him, her left arm turning to turn off the water. She knew this was going to be a long day.

Ruby watched the world change around her as mountains came ever closer to her and the rest of team RNJR and her uncle Qrow. For over nearly two days now they had been travelling towards Mistral since Qrow had been poisoned. The poison on the adult was taking its own toll on each member of the team as they walked towards Haven.

The toll happily invited Grimm to their location, as they soon found out. Wave after wave of Grimm slowed their process but they kept walking. Qrow today was a little more talkative in his sleep. "Alright… Tai, we'll be back hopefully soon." Qrow quietly whispered out.

Nora was the first one to break the silence after Qrow's latest sentence. "This is all one guilt trip for him, isn't it?"

Ruby just nodded; she was clearly in her own world at the moment. The mountain range at last was only a mere couple of hundred meters from them now. Her breath was heavy as she walked while carrying Qrow with Jaune's help. "Just...hold on, Uncle Qrow." whispered Ruby as Qrow struggled to stir.

"Tai…" Ruby perked up to her what her Uncle was trying to say. Qrow tried to speak with a sadness in his voice while breathing heavily "She's not… coming.. Tai…" Qrow stopped to cough a few times.

"He's getting worse." Jaune calmly replied as Qrow coughed some more.

"How much farther?" Ruby asked towards Ren, who was leading them.

"We've got to be close." replied Nora, trying to be cheerful.

Ren sighed. "Without the map, there's no way of knowing. But.. I feel like we're close to something." Ren stopped and noticed a sign ahead of him, he pocketed his weapons and started to walk to it.

"What is it?" asked Ruby as Ren picked up his pace to a run.

Nora soon caught him up at the sign as she looked at the top word on it, to the right it pointed to Mistral being labeled. "Hey, hey! Mistral!" she yelled happily. "We're on the right path!" Nora soon noticed the words Kuroyuri on the sign pointing left. "Oh." she said in a smaller tone, clearly aware of something occurring in that town.

"Does it say how close?!" shouted Ruby as she and Jaune kept walking.

Ren replied in a monotone. "No. And it looks like the path takes us up through the mountains."

Ruby and Jaune put down Qrow. "Guys…" started Jaune, "I don't know if all of us can make that climb."

Ruby ran to the sign and spoke aloud as she read the names on the sign. One of them poked out at her: Kuroyuri. "Okay. Well, what about this place?" she said, pointing to the crossed out town. "Kuro... Kuroyuri, Can we get help there?" she asked Ren.

"That village was destroyed years ago." said Ren, his how body sunk at the vocal mention of that town.

Jaune spoke up next "But if it takes us around the mountains, it's the best bet we've got."

"It will take too long!" shouted Ren, clearly distraught by the mentioning of that place.

"The town would have had a doctor, right? Or maybe we could scavenge for medicine!" replied Ruby, she was trying to get them to go with her; if there was medicine they could help Uncle Qrow, couldn't Ren see that?

"Right!" agreed Jaune, offering his support to Ruby by putting his hand on her shoulder.

"We're not going to find anything! We just have to press on!" shouted Ren, there was a pause as everyone looked at Ren, Jaune spoke up first.

"Ren, why are you acting-" Jaune was cut off by Nora's reply.

"We can split up." said Nora, her chirper attitude stripped away, leaving a quiet and saddened voice answering them as she led onto Ren's arm.

"Huh?" asked Ruby puzzled, both Ren and Nora were acting quite abnormally now.

"Ren and I can cut through the mountains while you and Ruby take Qrow around through the village." Nora continued.

"No, we're supposed to stick together. We keep each other safe!" Jaune shouted; worry in his voice.

"We don't have time for safe!" Shouted Nora,"If we make it to Mistral, we'll bring back help! If we don't, we'll at least have a better view of the land! Up there, we can see if there's somewhere else we can go!"

They all stood dead silent for a few seconds, unable to make a plan until Qrow coughs caught their attention.

"Okay, just take care of each other." Jaune said as Ruby nodded, clearly defeated by Nora's shouting.

"We always have." said Nora as she and Ren started to walk right. Nora was unable to let go of Ren as they walked away; while using her other hand to waive towards her teammates.

The team split up as Ruby and Jaune picked up Uncle Qrow. Ruby was the first one to speak up; trying to be confident and uplifting. "They're going to be fine, Jaune."

Jaune just looked away. "You don't know that Rubes."

Ruby just sighed as they were both unaware that they were walking through a huge hoof print in the soil of the path. Furthermore unaware the being that hoof print belonged to was nearby and running towards them; sensing Qrow's blood and the aroma of death and ill emotions hanging over them.

Yang lifted up her head, ready for the upcoming practice fight. Taiyang took the first swing, only for it to be blocked by Yang's robotic wrist, pushing it back. The fight went on back and forth until Yang got in a roundhouse kick, causing Tai to slide backwards a few feet. Zwei just sat there watching them go, panting happily as he sat on top of the towels.

Taiyang stood on his side of the field, before moving forward with his own roundhouse kick. Yang, in response put her two hands together to try to stop his attack, catching his landing foot.. With a loud cry, she pushed Taiyang back, causing him to flip backwards, and as he landed, Yang came back in for another blow. Holding onto his right arm, Tai slid through the dirt, his feet flat on the ground until he came to a stop and spoke. "Whoa, that thing packs a punch!"

"We've been at this for weeks. I get it, you wanna make sure I can still fight." Yang spoke, bumping her two fists in synch with each other. "I think I'm doing just fine."

"You're close." Taiyang stood upright, no longer nursing the punch. Walking towards Yang, he assured her training.

"Oh, really?" smirked Yang.
"You're still off balance."

"What?! No I'm not!" Yang shouted back at him.

Taiyang gave a hard chuckle, as he stood there.

"Honestly, I'm kind of surprised." Yang said, turning to look at her robotic arm, smiling at it. "I thought it would be just this huge weight, but it feels... natural. They did a great job with this thing-." Yang stopped speaking as Taiyang rushed her delivering a left hook right into her face. Yang's body fell back from the impact. She bounced back to block his right hook and used the turning momentum to deliver an elbow jab into Taiyang. Smiling as she did that, he blocked it and followed it up by dodging all the kicks and punches Yang tried to follow it up upon. While she used her left hand to block an elbow thrust, he grasped her robotic arm and pulled it forward, causing Yang to be in the position of having her balance rely on the weight of one leg.

"I wasn't talking about your actual balance." Taiyang spoke, as he swept Yang's leg, causing her to fall to the ground on her back, as he walked over to Zwei, who grabbed the top towel and ran to Taiyang. "Although, that could use some work too." he finished as he grabbed the towel from Zwei and rubbed Zwei's head, causing Zwei to hum happily.

Yang sat there, arms spread out as she took a breath before speaking. "Meaning?" Yang asked as she laid there.

Taiyang didn't reply for a second as he was wiping his face off. "I saw your tournament fights. During the Vytal Festival."

"Let me guess." Yang said before changing tone to a more mocking one "I was sloppy.""

"No, no, you were predictable. And... stubborn. And... maybe a little boneheaded." Taiyang spoke, smiling to himself, as Yang sat up and stared at her father. "Do you realize that you used your semblance to win every fight after the qualifiers during the Vytal Festival?" Taiyang asked, hoping to get a good reply from his daughter.

"So what? How is me using my semblance any different than someone else using theirs?" asked Yang.

Tossing the towel on the ground, Taiyang walked toward Yang. "Because not everyone else's is basically a temper tantrum." Taiyang answered by laughing as he crouched down next to Yang. "I'm serious! Once you take damage, you can dish it back twice as hard, but that doesn't make you invincible! It's great when you're in a bind, but what happens if you miss? What happens if they're stronger?"

Yang just stared at her father; the questions clearly taking their effect on her.

"What then?" Taiyang continued. "Now you're just weak and tired! You've always been one to burn brighter than everyone else, whether it was with your smile, or, well, I remember your first haircut." He playfully tugged the hair on the back of Yang's head. Smiling, Yang batted him away. He chuckled and walked away with Zwei following suit. "But you gotta keep your emotions in check. Keep a level head, and think before you act. Your Semblance is a great fallback, but you can't let yourself rely on it. It won't always save you." He lowered his head as he said that, sadness creeping into his tone. "Obviously. You definitely have your mom's stubbornness." Taiyang managed to say, as he looked at one of the trees. Zwei on the other hand, blissfully unaware of the story unfolding, just sat down in between them, and kept looking at each of them.

"Oh, so now we can talk about her?!" Yang shouted at her father. She was getting pissed, he was always the one to never mention Raven: her mother and her whereabouts to him. She had only seen her once when on the train in the underground, while fighting Neo. Raven had saved her, or so Qrow said that figure was her.

"Well, as I have been informed, you're an adult now, remember?" Taiyang spoke. He knew it was about time to talk to Yang about her mother. She knew the responsibilities and actions now of going after her mother.

"Well, sorry I remind you of her." Yang sharply spoke back.

"Don't be. Raven was great in so many ways - her strength, her ambition, her dedication to whatever cause she thought was worth fighting for." Taiyang said as he turned around from the tree. "I'm proud of how much of her I see in you. But, I'm glad I don't see all of her in you." 'Yeah, that sounded right', Taiyang thought to himself.

"Why?" asked Yang. 'What makes me so different to my mother.' Yang thought to herself, as she looked at her father.

"Your mother is... a complicated woman. Like everybody, she had her faults when she was with me, but those faults are also what tore our team apart in the end, and eventually our family. You both act like the easiest way to tackle an obstacle is through it. That strength is all that matters in a fight. But if you just take a second look, then maybe you see" Taiyang said, walking towards Yang, around Zwei, who had become the visualization for what he was saying. "There's a way around as well. Come on - one more round before dinner." he said, as he extended his hand out for Yang.

Yang took his hand as she got up, using him as a support. They then circled each other, arms at the ready for round two. Taiyang made the first move with a left hook, followed immediately by a right cross and a kick. Yang blocked them; nearly slipping backwards herself before propping herself up to avoid each and every attack her father gave at her next.

"Heh. See? Alright! Now you're using your head instead of your-" Taiyang was stopped by a swift kick to his leg, as Yang caught his arm. He and Yang pause just looking at each other, hands grasped, faces smiling.

"Let's end this with a bang!" A malicious voice rang out, it was loud enough to startle awake a woman from her long slumber. Silver eyes awoke as she looked around. She was in a glass tube with a water-like liquid. All she could see around her was robots moving from place to place and grimm in tubes much like her own.

"Detonation starting in 5.. 4..3..2..1." With a loud bang and chains of explosions all around flooding into her wolf like ears. Pounding on the glass occured naturally as the woman eventually managed to break the container she was being restrained by. She stood up out of the pod and looked around, the building was starting to collapse around her. "Today is not my day." She said to herself as she picked up a metal rod from the floor. "Now to get out of here." Grimm swarmed around her from pools as she walked. She chose to bash the Grimm which came too close to her with the rod. She took glee in watching them fade into dust in front of her as she walked.

Towers and explosions paved the way for the woman as she used her semblance to get up to a high point. It didn't take long for her to take in everything, until she spotted her ticket out of this place. Ships were leaving as if robots at the harbor, perhaps she could get to one of the boats and travel to Vale on the tank of dust it had? Only a few things stood in her path to the harbor, mainly the Grimm that swarmed and buzzed like Rapier Wasps: ripping up anything they could. After one encounter with one of the swarms; the woman looked up to see the shattered moon still floating above brightly; the woman noticed as she paused. Long nights of her youth were spent looking at it; it brought relief to her, as if it was trying to calm her. The Moon reminded her of her own eyes; which she noticed reflected the moonlight into a puddle as she stood in utter silence.

A few minutes passed until the woman got close to the harbor. Hopping over a few fences into the harbor proper and then jumping aboard the first ship, the woman took a second to get balanced. Eventually feeling uneasy from the rocking of the ship; the woman got to work destroying all of the robots as they came to her. The woman smirked as she walked into the cabin, and was not surprised that she found it empty. She sighed as she broke into the panels and found the autopilot wire; cutting it. This was her ship now.

"I'm coming, Petal." She said as she looked in the mirror in the captain's quarters. Her hair now short, a streak of grey in her hair in place of a normally maroon streak. "Oh gods how long have I been in there?" The woman said as she hit a panel on the desk next to her. The date showed up, as the woman stood there trying to read it. "Mum's gonna kill me." She said as she looked at the date. "I've missed a lot of her birthdays."