[X] Four
Yang's head hurt, as she regained consciousness. It took her a moment to realise she was in a hospital, and another moment for her to realise why.
She'd failed.
Not only that, she'd failed to the point where the people at her side had to physically stop her from failing worse. She had her Aura torn though and the damn terrorist got away and she just...
Damn it.
Why wasn't she good enough? After everything she'd been training towards, to get stronger, to get better...
And she couldn't even beat one White Fang member?
This wasn't working. Just, wasting her day going to school and talking to people and not getting stronger, it wasn't enough. She got in one fight with a White Fang member and walked out with a broken arm. If something like Five taking Ruby happened again, how was Yang supposed to be of any help?
And she couldn't just assume nothing like that would happen again. Of course something like that was going to happen again. She couldn't assume nothing was going to happen. She assumed that things would be over when she got back home after the whole school trip thing, and then she found out Ruby had been kidnapped when she was gone. She assumed things would be quiet after that, and then a terrorist breaks her arm.
She can't keep assuming that things would just quiet down. If she assumed things were going to be fine, then something was going to happen and she wouldn't be able to stop it because she wasn't ready for it.
It was better to be safe than sorry. It was better if she was strong enough to make sure nothing happened, so that even if something was going to happen, it wouldn't amount to anything.
Except she wasn't able to do that. She just wasn't enough to do that.
Groaning, she tried to sit up, putting her arm down in the process. It stung slightly, but not too bad.
Well, that was to be assumed. It was just a broken arm, when it happened. A proper hospital, rather than a medical bay in an airship, would be able to fix it up a bit before long. Even if she couldn't put too much pressure on it, it'd only take a few hours to repair the bone.
Which immediately made Yang worry again. A few hours. That was ages ago. Surely, her dad and Ruby would have been informed. They were going to hear about her getting injured again, and find out how weak she was, and...
Damn it.
Punching the mattress next to her, Yang closed her eyes and drove her nails into her palm.
Why was she so weak?
"...Hey."
Yang turned towards the voice, and looked over at the open door. There, clad in green, was Four.
The Intoner looked at Yang, concerned, as she stood at the door.
"Can I come in?" She asked.
Yang turned her head. "...Yeah, whatever."
Four stepped in. "I heard about what happened."
"Let me guess." Yang said. "One organised for people to tell you about anything White Fang related?"
"...Well, that, and she knows the people who own this hospital."
Yang blinked. "...Is there anyone your sister doesn't know?"
Four sighed. "I really don't know. It's not uncommon that she ends up spending all day going from meeting to meeting talking to people, to organise her big plan."
Yang considered for a moment, asking about this big plan, but then put the idea out of her mind. She didn't really need to know.
"...What happened to Ren and Nora?" She asked.
Four sighed, as she sat on a chair beside Yang. "They're fine. I took steps to keep names out of the news, don't worry. Ren was worried about you, said you were getting a bit... Well, we'll get to that. Point is, they're fine. Nora says she saved you your third of the pizza's, if you want them."
"I'd kind of forgotten about that, actually." Yang noted.
"I can imagine." Four replied. "Those... The White Fang members in the Dust shop, they got away. The old man and your friends managed to give me a good description of the five Faunus there, but I wanted to see if you recognised anything about them."
Yang thought on it, for a moment. "...Mostly the one with the red sword, I saw. There was a girl with a blue tongue, a girl with some sort of neck frill thing, and a boy with a lion's mane. But it was mostly the girl with burns."
Four looked away from Yang, out the window. "Yeah, people noticed that. You knocked her mask off, and I think I recognise the design. There's a variation, you know? Some based on certain Grimm, some just made to resemble. Some with certain designs, certain markings. I recognised the mask left on the scene."
Yang raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"I've seen it before. It's identical to the mask worn by the man who killed the previous matriarch of the Schnee Family."
Yang looked over at Four. "What?"
"I didn't believe it myself at first, I'll be honest. The exact mask was shattered when I brought the killer to justice. But the one found on the site was an exact replica."
"...Maybe it's nothing." Yang suggested.
"I don't think so." Four replied. "It's significant, to a degree. The easier explanation for it is that the White Fang produced that mask as a statement, as a reminder. But..."
Yang watched Four trail off for a moment, before clearing her throat.
"...Sorry." Four replied. "Just a rather... Displeasing memory. I don't think that explanation quite cuts it, because I think I know that Faunus specifically."
Her tone became frosty at the end, vaguely angry.
"I'm sensing a story here." Yang interjected.
Four looked out the window for a moment, eyes of steel, before she replied.
"...She was with the man who wore that mask at first." She explained. "When I fought him. She got caught in the blast while I was trying to take out the priority targets, but managed to get away. Don't ask me too much about the story. Just... I don't pretend to understand how those people think, but her perspective on the events, from what I grasped, were skewed."
"Skewed how?"
Four sighed. "It's a long story, but she tried to claim the moral high ground. Her exact wording was enough that she distracted me long enough for her to get away. I don't want to talk about it."
"...I get it." Yang replied. "Some things can be hard to talk about. She's tricky with words? I just won't let her talk next time I run into her."
Four smiled. "That's a good attitude."
Yang nodded for a moment, then looked down again.
"...Shame about this, though." Yang replied. "I mean, I've healed, but when dad and Ruby hear about this, they're going to freak."
Four smiled. "Oh, don't worry about that, my dear friend. The people in this hospital have to listen to me 'cause One can cut their funding if they don't. I had them keep things quiet. All your dad knows is that there was an attack and you got dragged here because you got hit a bit and everyone wanted to be cautious. They'll only know what you tell them, Yang."
The yellow haired teen blinked. "Thanks?"
"Don't question it." Four replied. "You got hurt, but I'm told you leaped from your peaceful day the instant you saw trouble. I couldn't let you be inconvenienced by an act of Justice like that."
Four's posture froze into a pseudo-pose for a moment.
"Yeah, thanks." Yang nodded. "You're... I owe you one."
"No, don't." Four insisted. "You already offered to help me with the White Fang before this. Though, if you wanted to back out, I understand. I hope I can rely on you, though."
"Depends on how much my dad overreacts." Yang admitted. "Don't worry, I'll try."
Four nodded, and there was silence for a moment.
"I feel like we got off track, a bit." Four said after a moment. "Can you tell me a few more things about the girl with the burns?"
"She had a red sword." Yang explained. "Fired it out of the sheath to do more damage. Lit it on fire. Semblance was some sort of dodge-decoy thing. She was fast. Way too fast for my liking."
"Hm." Four mused. "I didn't really get to see her fight much last time I encountered her, but there was definitely some sort of shadow Semblance thing going on. Speed... Would make sense, for her. Or at least being a dodger. Probably means she's fragile if you hit her hard enough."
Yang nodded. "Yeah. The other four weren't as big deals, I think. Lion guy threw a ball on a rope on another ball, which he could apparently stop from wrapping around himself. Blue tongue could... I don't know. She used crystals more than anything, I think. I don't remember anything beyond that, I'm sorry."
"Are you sure?" Four asked.
Yang mused, for a moment.
"...Blake wasn't used to using a sword." She decided. "The cat Faunus, I mean. She wasn't able to use any skill with it, and it was easy enough to disarm her when she wasn't pulling an ambush. Like she hadn't used it much before?"
Four nodded. "That..."
She trailed off, looking into the distance, before changing the topic.
"So, anyway." Four said. "Ren's a bit concerned that you throwing yourself into fights. Says you might think you have something to prove?"
Yang paused for a moment.
He did seem to realise something at the end of the incident, before Nora knocked her out. And...
...Thinking about it, after the burning village thing, Ren did say something about how he was tired of running. Or something along those lines. And he had run off to try and find the mercenary leader, and got hit bad because he was on his own.
Maybe he was seeing a bit of that, in Yang's actions.
But this was different. Yang wasn't going to run into a fight just so it didn't feel like she was running away from a fight. She was going to run into a fight so she can get strong enough where she didn't need to run.
"It's fine." Yang cut in. "I lost the fight. Yeah, it happens a lot. Too often. But it's fine."
"...If you say so." Four sighed. "I hope you know what you're doing, Yang. You did good, even if you didn't catch the cat girl. She didn't get any of the Dust crystals. That's a victory, you know. The criminal has been thwarted, and thus, Justice prevails."
"You're big on justice, aren't you?" Yang asked.
"Well, of course." Four replied defensively, crossing her arms. "Justice is Justice. It's the rule by which man lives to remain moral. Justice, morality, its what separates man from beast and Grimm. Justice needs to be upheld, for the sake of society. To those who would slip, a sword of Justice to show them the path, an example and one who makes examples, is enough to have them strive to be better."
"I didn't take you for the philosophical type." Yang noted.
Four scoffed. "This is just common sense, isn't it? If a dog is vicious, it attacks when angered. When a human is vicious and angered, the idea of Justice shall bring them in line. Some by punishment. Some by deterrence. Some, because they will not seek to be unjust. Justice rules the hearts and minds of humanity, and thus shall it lead."
"That seems about right." Yang nodded.
Four nodded. "Exactly! You get it!"
Yang smiled at Four's enthusiasm. It was weird. Four was the older, but as soon as the conversation turned, her tone became almost childish. Kind of like Ruby talking about the weapon she wanted to make, really.
"Anyway, I should probably go." Four sighed, after a moment. "Work to do. I need to find the White Fang before they can strike again. I managed to find a suspect earlier today, and while he didn't seem to know anyone, I was able to get some sort of clueclue."
"Hm?" Yang asked.
"He said that he was going to meet another member of the White Fang in a few days." Four continued. "At some kind of club fighting event? He clammed up after that. I left him in a cell to sweat for a bit. There was enough smoke last I checked that I should get something out of him..."
...Club fighting?
"I think I might know what he's talking about." Yang said.
Four raised an eyebrow.
"There's a Fight Club I ran into a while back." Yang explained. "While trying to get information to find your, ugh... Younger? Sister? Five."
Four looked down at herself for a moment. She muttered under her breath for a moment, seemingly agitated. She went on for a while, and Yang vaguely heard Four saw something about flaying flesh, before she cleared her throat.
"Five is my younger sister, yes." Four replied, sounding somewhat bitter. "Say it. I know you're thinking it."
"...I don't want to be rude." Yang said. "Sorry. I didn't mean to... Sorry."
Four breathed. "No, no, it's fine. Just a sore spot. Go on."
"Uh... Okay." Yang nodded. "I got information by helping a club owner with bets in a Fight Club. I know the place and how to get in. It'd be a bit much to just go in and start something, but if you can find out how to identify this guy..."
Four paused, then nodded.
"Yeah, that could work." Four agreed. "I'll light a fire under the prisoner to get him to sing, get out information on the who without focusing on the where so he thinks he's not giving away too much. Will you be able to give me a hand there? I could try and think of an excuse to borrow you from your father for a bit. A training exercise or wanting a tour around the city or something? I'll think about it. Do you think it can work?"
Yang pried herself up off the hospital bed, feeling her bad arm for a moment. It had healed alright, enough to throw a punch if she didn't mind some pain. She might be able to do this...
[X] It could work. Yang should help Four.
[X] It would probably be best not to try it.