.
Burning Rose
.
Red like roses fills my dreams.
Yellow beauty burns gold.
.
.
"Think fast, Jauney boy!"
As soon as Emerald entered the living room, she pitched a box of cereal at the young man as fast as she could.
To her surprise, Jaune caught it.
"What's this?" he asked.
"Reparations and olive branch to offset a future hungry-kill situation."
"…"
Emerald went to the kitchen for a moment and came back with a bowl, spoon, and milk. She placed the set on the coffee table. An amiable, business-like grin plastered on her face.
Watching this play out with vested interest, and the only other person in the living room, was Taiyang. It was a funny feeling, but he couldn't get over the teammates his daughter had chosen. There was certainly never a dull moment with them around.
"Your accounts should be frozen, so how did you buy that?" Taiyang asked.
"Please, only chumps keep their money in government-tied bank accounts," Emerald rested her hands on her hips. "No offense, if that's your prerogative. But people in my line of work usually like to keep funds off the books and far out of legal reach."
"You mean, criminals."
"Practitioners of an unorthodox profession."
"Criminals."
"To-may-to, to-mah-to."
"No one ever says to-mah-to," Taiyang grinned.
"I'm starting to see where Yang gets it from, yup…" Emerald flipped onto the remaining sofa surrounding the coffee table and started filing her nails. "Anyway, thank you, Midas Underground Banking. The only way to keep a tomato's money safe. So, are you gonna eat the cereal or what, Jaune? I coulda stolen it—but I thought it would ease your conscience if I paid for it with my own cash."
For a moment, Jaune stared at the girl, then at Taiyang who shrugged.
"…Do you believe in destiny?" Jaune asked Emerald, while pouring himself a bowl.
"Nope!"
"I do. And when the time comes, we'll settle everything."
"…Sure, kid," she replied, while examining her nails. "Anytime."
"Want a friendly match later?"
"I'll take a hard pass."
"Next time, then."
"Sure, if someone else hasn't beaten you to it. Our team's got a loooong queue of people waiting for their shot."
"Yeah. Yang especially."
"Where is the southpaw, anyway?"
"Who knows," Jaune crunched a mouthful of cereal.
"I wonder, who's first in line to kick her ass."
.
X
.
"I don't understand…" Ruby said in a small voice.
"What's not to get?"
Yang crossed her arms in a stand-offish manner. Nothing soft or friendly in her tone. An almost open hostility in her stance.
"I don't understand what's going on with you!" Ruby exploded. "Ever since we met again, all I wanted was to talk with you! I JUST WANT TO UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON!"
"Why? So we can be the best sisters forever again? " Yang asked with sarcastic cheer.
"Why can't we? Why can't things be like they used to?!" she sniffled. "We're together. We're home. But now, it's all messed up…"
Ruby buried her face in her hands. A sad silence drew between them. And for a while, only the distant cracks of thunder provided the only source of noise.
"—You're the one, who messed everything up, Ruby."
"…What?"
The younger sister raised her head in disbelief.
"What did you say?"
"YOU LEFT ME! YOU ALL LEFT ME!" Yang roared. "Weiss and Blake, I can understand, but YOU! You followed me everywhere, but once I wasn't the big sister you looked up to, YOU LEFT ME!"
"B-b-but I couldn't bring you. It was dangerous and—"
"DON'T LIE! You ditched me because I was dead weight! You abandoned me because you thought I was useless! YOU ONLY WANT ME BACK BECAUSE I'M STRONGER AGAIN!"
"That's not why! I was afraid you'd get hurt again if you came with us!" Ruby screamed back. "I want us to get along again, because I love you! I missed you! I still do, because you're not acting like yourself!"
"And how's 'myself'? Huh?" Yang chuckled bitterly. "The nice, older sibling that always spoiled you? Who always had to look out for you, and protect you, and make you feel better? I see how upset you get when I'm around my team."
"I don't get upset…!"
"How you wish you and me were working on my arm, instead of Mercury."
"That's not true…!"
"How I pay more attention to Neo than you."
"I said, that's not true!"
"But, hey. I get where you're coming from. Emerald's kind of like my big sister now. Trying to do what's best for me, even when I don't listen. Does it hurt that I replaced you with them?"
"THEY CAN'T REPLACE ME!"
The thunderstorm rumbling in the distance, was now hurling lightning bolts overhead. Hard rain pelted every surface. Violent gales blew with enough force to drag Ruby's hood from her face.
There, all her anger laid bare. Her silver eyes glinted fiercely. The cape fluttering in the wind, expanded to an enormous size. It lent the image of a haunting red phantom.
"Finally," Yang muttered.
Her hair shuttered with a brief glow. A fire stoked behind her blood-red irises. She bore her teeth, like a wrathful dragon.
"Finally!"
.
X
.
"They're weird."
Emerald and Taiyang turned to Jaune, while sipping hot coco. It was a cozy environment with the storm raging outside and the fireplace lit.
"They're weird, right?" Jaune repeated.
"Who are we talking about?" Emerald asked.
"Ruby and Yang. They're really weird sisters…"
"I guess. I mean, they're not actually sisters. Different moms and all that."
"That's not the point. It feels like, they get along too well. Or they try really hard to."
"That's weird? I thought that was just how happy-go-lucky families were."
"—Huh," Taiyang murmured in reflection. "I remember Qrow saying the same thing once. Even Raven mentioned it before."
"I have seven sisters and they fight every second of every day," Jaune explained. "They argue over stuff like someone walking into the room at the wrong time. They scream and yell about what to watch on TV or who gets the last dessert. It gets pretty crazy…"
"…I don't think I've ever seen Ruby and Yang so much as argue," Taiyang admitted. "Not in any big way."
"They were even on the same team. And they were always together, getting along, supporting each other. I remember thinking, maybe that's just how other siblings are. But now, looking back, I think it was strange."
"Siblings, hm?"
"Siblings fight."
"I've never seen them fight."
"It's almost like, they purposely do everything not to."
Jaune and Taiyang contemplated it for a while. They thought close friends would get angry with each other at some point in their lives, even the best of ones.
"HAHAHA!" Emerald suddenly cackled.
"What's so funny?" Jaune asked.
"No, it's just—I could totally see Yang doing that. Freakin' goody-two-shoes…" Emerald's flashed a sharp smile. "At least, the old Yang. Pretending to be the big reliable sister, when she's actually really annoyed inside."
"There's nothing wrong with being a good older sibling."
"Doesn't sound like there's nothing too right about it either. I don't believe in dancing around hot button issues."
"Really?" Jaune noted with skepticism. "That sounds exactly like something you'd do."
"It was…" Emerald stared into her cup, "until an idiot and I learned why we couldn't. Ignoring the elephant in the room doesn't stop it from trampling you, but picking a fight with it might."
Taiyang's thoughts drifted to memories surrounding his daughters' past.
"Yang might've always felt guilty towards Ruby…. Something happened when they were younger, and because of Yang, they almost died because of it. Maybe some of that always stuck with her." He paused and stared into the fireplace. "And without a mother, it was Yang and I who showered Ruby with love. She grew up bright and energetic. I thought she was perfect and so did Yang. I wonder if we cornered her into being that around us."
"Being the youngest sibling," Jaune commented from personal experience, "I get that. Expectations can suffocate you until you don't know what to do. If you don't meet them, you become lost, and you can spiral. It's kinda scary, to be honest."
"Yang's been pushing Ruby away recently, creating distance."
"Ruby probably doesn't know how to react or how to take it."
"But why would Yang do that?" Taiyang wondered quizzically. "They could make up, pick up where they left off. I doubt she's doing this because she really hates Ruby."
"—It's 'cause she wants to be free," Emerald suddenly answered, drawing strange looks from the other two. "If Yang has obligations because of stuff that happened a long time ago, she probably wants to get rid of it. And she's more than capable of doing that now."
…
After a moment, Taiyang chucked another log into the fireplace. Small embers flared into the air and the room grew warmer.
"Yang and Ruby aren't back yet." he said after a time.
"Well, if all that sister-sister talk was right, I think I know exactly where they are," Emerald chuckled.
"And where would that be?"
"Somewhere fighting the elephant in the room."
.
X
.
A string of gunfire whistled through the winds. The ricochet of bullets reflecting off steel matched the striking thunder. And the two siblings fought in the pouring rain, before their mother's grave.
"We aren't even real sisters!" Yang roared.
"If you hated me so much, you should've just said so!" Ruby roared back.
The younger girl's image flickered, before a wide swing of her scythe forced Yang to duck. When the older tried to throw a punch back, the cape whisked its owner away from harm.
"And, what? Hurt the baby's precious feelings?!" Yang mocked. "If I treated you anything less than perfect, dad would've yelled at me! If I tried to ditch you, Qrow forced me to bring you along!"
"That's not my fault! I didn't ask you or them to do any of it!"
Ruby unleashed a flurry of slashes. Yang used her Semblance to find the best spots to parry. A firework of sparks blasted the rain around them away.
"But you still want me back! You think life's that convenient?! I guess you would, since you're such a spoiled brat!"
"You're the one, who's spoiled! Dad still cares about you, even if you're a criminal! Everyone still loves you and is willing to forgive you, even if you're friends with Penny's killers!"
Ruby's cloak grew another size and began swirling her body. Through the red cover, the girl unloaded sniper round after sniper round in the other's direction.
Yang was barely able to block the shots. The spare prosthetic was thinner than Ember Celica and less durable. As a result, Ruby's rounds caused a knockback that made Yang's joints ache. Defense was going to be problem. It was unfortunate, but she could only rely on her left Ember Celica to present any real threat.
Yang took aim, and combined with her Semblance, unloaded a few shots into the swirling crimson cape. The shells detonated inside, signaling they hit their mark.
In response, Ruby's cloak whipped about, performing evasive maneuvers to dodge Yang's next wave of gunfire.
"Pyrrha, Penny, that's all I hear from you guys," Yang grit her teeth. "You think I haven't thought about them a million times?! They're not who you're mad about. Who you're really mad at is yourself!"
"Of course, I am! But just because I do, doesn't mean it isn't your fault either!"
The climate dipped below freezing. Falling rain formed shards of hail. The thunder clouds above growled with increasing fury.
"Hey, Ruby…"
"What?!"
"How did it feel, when you thought I killed Qrow?"
"Shut up, Yang."
"What did you think when he died?" Yang pressed. "And you never told him you knew he was your dad?"
"What does that matter?!"
"I want to know. I want to know how you felt, because we come back home, and you act like I didn't do anything wrong! That I didn't just pull all this messed up crap! Like I'm still your idiot older sister, who's always going to smile and babysit—"
"I HATE YOU!" Ruby cracked. "I WISHED YOU WEREN'T MY SISTER! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR?!"
The glow in Ruby's eyes became shimmering flashes. Through Yang's Semblance, she could see her younger sister's Aura manifesting into something new. Rather than a person, the power generated within her was more like a phenomenon. An event too great to be contained inside flesh and bone body.
Rose petals dispersed from Ruby's cloak in droves. The crimson specter stalked towards Yang, appearing just on the edge of her older sister's peripheries. With a deadly swing of her scythe, she lopped off a few locks of Yang's hair, eliciting an angry growl from the sibling.
"You never got angry with me, Ruby. I always hated that. Not the angry part, but never showing it. Even if I knew there were so many times you wanted to."
"You never wanted to see it. You never wanted me to act any less than I did."
"I can't be the same person you looked up to anymore. I stopped being that a long time ago."
"I didn't care if you became a criminal, or who you teamed up with. But you crossed a line...!"
As they glared at each other through the rain, small puffs of mist could be seen from their heavy breaths. Their chests and shoulders rose and fell rapidly.
"I guess, we can finally stop being sisters after this," Yang muttered.
"Yeah. We should," Ruby agreed.
Yang ejected the spent rounds in her arm and reloaded fresh ones. Her Aura burned, enough to send flames licking through her hair. The Semblance in her eyes bled a vicious luminescence.
In matching intensity, Ruby's cloak thrashed about like an angry bird's wings. It now grew to unnatural size. Silver sparked from her sight, like an overloading dynamo. Her long-latent abilities revealed some of its truest form, then and there.
The two bolted for each other, leaving a shockwave impression on the land. Rose petals trailing one and a streak of yellow flames trailing the other.
"RUBY!"
"YANG!"
Yang pitched her left fist with all her might. She triggered a round to increase velocity. Her knuckles aimed exactly where the cracks of light converged.
Yang's arm became engulfed by the haunting red cloth. It swallowed the punch, like it did smothering a fire.
She wasn't sure what was happening, but in the next moment, she felt countless thorned vines chaining her body. Only red painted her vision, and the sensation of Crescent Rose touching her torso.
Then, all at once, Yang felt Ruby's attacked tear through her like the storm around them.
…
"…Ruby…"
…
"…Ruby…"
…
"If something ever happens to me, I don't want you to take revenge… or anything stupid like that."
…
"Okay?"
…
"…Kay."
…
"You know, it would be kind of nice to see the old team again. Even if you guys hate me."
…
"It would be fun. To be Team RWBY again."
.
X
.
Emerald, Taiyang, and Jaune heard a loud thumping at the front door.
"So, you think that's a foreboding kind of knock or…?"
Emerald's question was answered, when Ruby kicked the door in.
Over her shoulders, she dragged Yang's unconscious body. Both of them looked relatively wounded, though the older sibling, more severely.
"Jaune," Ruby called.
"Right, set her down here," Jaune leapt off the sofa to make room for the siblings. His Semblance activated, immediately setting to heal the pair's wounds.
Taiyang came closer and noticed a bruise developing on the younger sister's eye.
"What happened? Were you attacked—"
But Ruby shook her head immediately.
"We were working stuff out. I'm going to bed," she said with a short temper.
"Ruby, I haven't finished healing," Jaune told her.
"Then you can finish later. I'm. Going. To. Bed."
Ruby stomped from the living room, paying no mind to anything else. A wounded Yang left behind for three confused figures to treat.
"""Huh,""" they expressed a level of astonishment.
"Hey, boys," Emerald called their attention, while cocking her head to the side.
"Doesn't this sleeping loser look like she's smiling?"
.
X
.
It was bright and early in the morning. The sun had barely peeked over the horizon and night's dark still shaded some of the skies.
Outside the house, Team ENMY and Taiyang stood in the front yard.
"You sure I can't convince you to stay? Not even a little longer?"
"Nah, Dad," Yang smiled. "It's time for us to hit it."
"You don't want to say goodbye to the others?"
"We might end up fighting, if they think this is the last they'll see us."
"And your sister?"
Yang revealed a bitter smile.
"…We already said our goodbyes."
"…I see."
They looked back at the house, and for a second, they swore they saw a head peeping out the window.
"What are you going to do?" Yang asked.
"Your old man has his own plans," Taiyang shrugged. "Can't sit on my hands, teaching at Signal forever."
"That's what I thought."
"Hmph. Don't be strangers."
Yang gave her father one last hug before departing. And the man watched the group of four go, until he could see them no longer.
Last night's storm already left a thick layer of snow. Taiyang rubbed his hands together and breathed warm air into them. This winter would be especially cold, he thought.
While watching for the team that was already out of sight, a short figure appeared beside him.
"Yang's gone?" Ruby asked.
"Yup. Gone to who knows where…" He patted her head. "Feeling lonely?"
"Nope."
"Not even a little?"
"Nope."
"You know something I don't?"
"Nope. I just… don't feel bad about Yang leaving. Next time we meet, she might be an enemy. But I know we'll see each other again."
"That's…bad? Or good? I don't really get it."
"It's a sister thing."
"Okay. So, I guess you're all ready to leave, huh?" Taiyang turned to the house, and saw Team RNJR packed up as well.
"Sorry to spring this so fast," Ruby apologized.
"Too bad, but I can't let you leave yet."
"Huh?"
Taiyang clenched his fist and revealed a challenging grin. Even through the cold weather, they could feel heat radiate from the man. Tattooed emblems surfaced along the skin of his arms.
"I don't exactly feel confident letting you guys go." He banged his knuckles together, and the resulting shockwave blew a layer of frost from their surroundings. "So, I'm gonna have to train you up a little. Until you can take me down reasonably, you four aren't leaving."
"What?!" Ruby exclaimed. "But you let Yang leave!"
"It's kind of embarrassing, but her team passed my test in less than a minute—without their Semblances."
The eyes of Team RNJR went wide.
"Anywho," Taiyang continued. "I don't plan on letting you guys participate in the war. Not until you stand at least half a chance against me. Now that you get it, come on! If you don't take this seriously, YOU'LL NEVER LEAVE! HAHAHA!"
"Um. Ruby? Isn't your dad a little—"
Jaune started to say something, but Ruby interrupted him,
"—Juggernaut! Red Lotus!"
Every member of Team RNJR simultaneously drew their weapons and paired up. Taiyang sneered and taunted them forward with a wave of his hand. Ruby wore a similar expression, and made a vow to herself.
We'll meet again one day.
Not just us, but Team RWBY.
I promise.
At least,
One last time.