[X] Lash out with her soul, her Magic

Yang screamed, as she felt the bones in her hand crush under the force of her own grip. Her lungs burnt, and her other arm grew weak as the shock and the blood loss struck her. But that didn't matter.

None of this mattered.

The circumstances weren't important. Who was fighting didn't matter. How strong they were, and how much of a borderline cripple Yang was, that was all irrelevant. None of it mattered, not on any level.

What mattered was Ruby.

What mattered was the sword impaled through Ruby's chest. Ruby's cry of shock and pain, even as it faded away into an airless gasp. The clatter of steel as Crescent Rose fell out of her hands, the flicker of blood as she stepped back and the sword slipped out of her again.

Who cared about the circumstances? Who was fighting, who was here, where they were, none of that mattered. Ruby had been hurt, and hurt bad.

Instinct filled Yang, as she lashed out. Her hand flailed past Ruby, towards the cold eyes of the woman looking down at her, and the white cloaked woman leaned to the side slightly. The punch failed to connect, and as her hateful, grief-struck scream reached a crescendo, something clicked.

Her Aura was depleted, but that was just a manifestation of the soul. The true soul, the tool that Qrow had taught her the basics of wielding, remained untouched. It laid within the body, the Aura it's gift to protect the shell, and the Semblance the tool in which it manifested more specifically, from person to person.

The drained Aura, a sign of the soul's manifestation being pushed to breaking point. Yang's Semblance, running off of her completely crushed Aura and at it's peak, pushed to the most. Her Aura's specifics took root, that manifestation forcing the soul into the shape best fitted for the use of magic.

Yang understood that, on some instinctual level. It was like, in a flash, that knowledge was there. Like breathing, like blinking, it became something ingrained.

As she screamed, as her hand lashed out ineffectually, something lashed out as well. The hilt of Zero's sword slammed into Yang's arm, and Yang felt bones shatter, but in that second where she stumbled, the follow up never came. Zero' blade remained in place, where it would have been so easy to stab forward into Yang's heart, as the woman in white put a hand on her forehead.

Memories boiled into Yang's brain, but were washed out by the sheer focused determination in her mind. The long-standing pedigree of the grass was irrelevant, even if this patch right here was the same patch that Weiss had stood when she first met One. All that mattered in that instant was that Ruby had been hurt, and there hadn't been anything Yang could do to protect her.

All there was in her mind was the sheer, unfiltered rage, burning deep into her soul as she felt it strike out. So much around Yang accepted it, her soul flowing into so many things that were immediately discarded as unimportant. Pain struck through her temple as something white and something red offered resistance, but the pained cries from Ruby as she fell to the ground were enough to push Yang past the pain.

She stepped forward, as she felt her soul pulsing through the world around her. The magic Qrow had taught her, whatever it was, was painting an image of the world in her mind. It seemed more real than the actual world, somehow. She saw, more than felt, her arm move up again as it swung wildly through the air. Zero's sword, her chaotic and twisted Aura flowing through it and stabbing into her brain just to feel, surged forward at last, the expression of anger etched onto Zero's face growing harsher as she stabbed forward.

Another blade appeared behind Yang, empty and cold, even the Aura flowing through it feeling like a machine. Before Yang could react, the blade stabbed into her back, and stuck into place. A taut wire hung in the air for an instant, before snapping back, pulling Yang with it.

A heartbeat passed, as Zero's blade cut into Yang's chest, just shy of her heart, before a chunk of flesh was ripped out of her back. She screamed, as she fell to the ground, and her soul crawled outwards to feel into everything, fusing with every blade of grass and every bug in the ground, until it felt Penny stepping over Yang-

"There's too many memories here for you to comprehend, Yang. You'll hurt yourself trying."

An explosion of pain tore through Yang's brain, and as it faded, it took her a while to realise that Penny had stepped past her.

Yang pushed herself up, and felt her arm crumble as the force of it caused more bones to snap. Ignoring the pain, Yang smashed her head back, using the generated force to bounce up, and for herself to her feet.

"Yang!" A voice called from behind her, and Em's soul stepped into Yang's range, Melanie's a moment behind.. And then she jumped back suddenly, as Ciel ran through, her hands twirling as they unfolded a hollow disk. Ciel's Semblance seeped through her flesh as she moved fast, and a slow charge built in her hands as she gripped the circle and moved towards the two.

"I was killing her." Zero spat out. "What gives?"

Yang stepped forward, and her body screamed at her for the movement, pain trying to overwhelm the anger flowing into her brain.

"You have more important targets." Penny replied coldly. "Three is right there, and the newcomer can't hold her Disciple back until Ciel slows down the other two-"

Heat blossomed over the battlefield, and the memories stabbing into Yang's heart redoubled at the sight of Blake stepping forward, covered in flames. She stepped forward silently, as smoke started to consume the battlefield once again, and her guns were holstered as she drew her sickle again.

"Whatever." Zero dismissed, as she turned towards Ruby.

Yang jumped forward, her scream redoubling as she pushed herself towards Zero again. Blake hurled herself forward with her Semblance, smoke exploding through the battlefield, and repeated the trick again to move herself within striking range of Yang. Her second shadow turned dark and smoky, but then a flame ignited from within, and the smoke shaped like Blake's head shifted. A demonic face screamed forward, the smoke hiding Blake as the flames consumed her, and the demon ripped through the air.

There wasn't any more oxygen in the air, Yang realised, as the smoke seeped into her lungs and heat ripped her apart. Zero stepped closer to Ruby, and Yang could feel the echo through Blake's soul, the second soul emerging and burning it's way through the world. Vengeance painted the world, and for a second Yang lost herself in the wasteland.

Was she jumping at Zero, or the figure in green? Was she rushing to save the girl in the red hood, or the girl with the wolf ears? Were those blades, or claws? A manor, or the broken airship?

It didn't matter. None of this mattered. The heat burning against Yang as her clothes lit aflame didn't matter. All that mattered was that Yang saved her. Her sister, Ruby, the Intoner, Zero, and herself, Yang. That was all there was in the world, and Blake was nothing but a distraction. And there had been enough distractions.

Yang's soul turned inwards, shifting as her mind turned towards that one goal with single minded fervour. She was going to fight Zero, beat her away from Ruby, and save her sister.

Blake's sickle descended on Yang's back, and Yang felt her body shifting as she surged forward. She felt lighter, for that second, as she flew towards Ruby, and there was a cry of surprise from behind Yang as the rush of air behind her informed her that the sickle had missed.

How didn't matter, don't question miracles when they come. Even as the air pushed Yang down, and she felt herself shift again to bounce off the ground, she was still charging forward.

She jumped again, the dirt beneath her feet cratering as she surged forward, and her fist curled back as she prepared to charge into Zero.

The woman in white turned towards away from Ruby for a fraction of a second, and her sword arced around. Pain carved it's way through Yang's side, just beneath her ribs, and as it cleaved through her body, Yang felt something snap.

She tumbled to the ground a moment later, the impact making her spit blood, and she watched as Zero turned away from her.

Yang curled her leg up, stamping her foot into the ground to leverage herself onto her feet again, and realised after a moment that she couldn't feel her legs move. In fact, she couldn't feel them at all.

Everything below her ribs had lost all feeling. Right where Zero had broken her spine.

No, no, no, no, Yang couldn't let it end here. Her injuries didn't matter, her body didn't matter, not with Ruby right there, not with Zero right there, not like this. She was still alive, she could still save Ruby.

She moved her arm, trying to dig into the dirt, but the broken bones and the shattered fingers merely scraped ineffectively against the ground. Tears welled in Yang's eyes, and her soul's reach was collapsing in on itself, fading away fast.

"Was that so hard?" Zero asked, as the sound of combat continued in the distance. "I could have done this two minutes ago, Penny. Thanks for the delay."

There wasn't a reply for a moment, and Yang felt Zero turn away, even as Ruby turned to face Yang. She looked down to Yang, as her range faded, and then up to Zero, then back.

The faces were so similar, Yang mused again. Had Ruby noticed? Had she put it together as well? Had the horror of the situation been too much for her, or had she been able to keep it together another to make the scene so much worse for her.

"Yang?" Ruby asked softly, her voice sounding distant, unbelieving. "No... Why?"

She fell out of Yang's rapidly diminishing range, and Zero's sword shifting was the last thing Yang could feel with her soul, before her extended reach fell apart completely. She did everything she could to blink the tears out of her eyes, but her vision was growing dark even without tears.

It was...

Hard. So hard. To keep her eyes open. To keep herself breathing. She was getting lightheaded, and it was becoming harder and harder to listen to what was going on around her.

"Stop it..." Ruby muttered again, her voice desperate and broken. "Please, mum, stop!"

So she had put it together, Yang noted. Unfortunate. There had to have been a surreal horror to it. If it had been Yang's mother, at that moment, watching someone she didn't really know but still held on to the idea of would have shaken her. And now Ruby...

"STOP!"

The scream ripped through the heavens, long and unceasing, as grief poured out of Ruby. The earth rocked, and Yang felt something flicker within her. Her clouded vision cleared for a heartbeat, letting her look forward and see, even if the darkening continued almost instantly afterwards.

There was a gleam in Ruby's eyes, and as her scream took a melodic tinge, that gleam exploded into silver light coating her body.

"Fuck!" Zero swore, as she charged forward, sword extended. The singing scream intensified in pitch, and Zero was buffeted away, shielding her eyes as the force of the song threw her backwards.

The silver light faded for a moment, and in that instant, Yang could see her sister's face. Her hair had parted around her forehead, and something was burning into her forehead, as she looked at Zero. Before Yang could get a good enough look on it, however, Ruby was gone.

The shockwave shook through the courtyard, and Yang felt the fires she had forgotten about on her clothes snuff out as the sudden shift in the air ripped the oxygen away from them. Zero stumbled back, as the fist struck her in the face, and Ruby appear in front of her as a blur. White and red blurred together, and Zero's sword hit the ground as Ruby slapped it out of her hands.

The brawl ended with the earth buckling, as Zero threw Ruby to the ground, and Ruby let out another scream. The silver light burst outwards, throwing Zero back, and there was a flash of red and silver before Ruby appeared over Yang.

"Rub..." Yang muttered out, before she coughed. Blood splattered on Ruby's cheek, and Ruby put a hand on Yang's cheek.

"It's okay." Ruby assured her, the melodic tinge to her voice spreading to her regular tone now. Silver light crawled down Ruby's hand, and for a second, breathing got easier. Her heartbeat continued, even as Yang felt the rest of her body go numb. A tune escaped Ruby's lips, a soothing song like a lullaby, and it occurred to Yang suddenly that the bleeding was all slowing down.

There was an angry cry from behind Ruby, but another melodic screech echoed out, and a purple barrier appeared between Ruby and Zero. Yang didn't even look towards Three, as she closed her eyes.

She didn't want to close her eyes, she wanted to keep fighting, she wanted to finish this, but...

"You've done enough." Ruby continued, and Yang could feel something wet drip down onto her cheek. "I-It's okay, Yang. I... I don't know what's going on, I don't know why this is happening, but..."

There was something soothing, in that moment. Somehow, she felt safe. The darkness beckoned, and even if she wanted to keep Ruby safe, the sensation was pushed down by that song.

"...It's going to be okay." Ruby repeated one last time, as Yang lost consciousness. "I'll make sure of it."

Perspective change:

[X] Red
[X] Purple
[X] Black