Chapter 6

Falling with the rain she reached her hand out in desperation for the familiar grip of the weapon in front of her. As if she had done it a hundred times she managed to catch it with ease, holding on tight as she felt it tug, someone pulling at the other end and causing her to fall into a much safer swing. Her boots slid across the wet pavement and she felt a sharp tug of Gambol Shroud, as if it's wielder was attempting to rip it back from her grasp harshly. Yang refused to let go and her lilac gaze followed the ribbon. It extended up towards the roof of the building besides the complex but she didn't see anyone. They must be further back on the roof.

Gambol Shroud tugged sharply again, trying to free itself. Gritting her teeth Yang planted a boot against the wall in front of her, effectively climbing up it as someone continued to pull at the weapon. The rain fell into her eyes and caused her to look away towards the entrance of the complex. The boarded front door of the building slammed open as Neo launched out, sliding into a sharp turn and using her hand to grasp at the wet floor before standing up straight and sprinting towards Yang with a crazed grin. Yang wasn't nearly high enough up the second building to evade her. She called out up to the roof of the building she was attempting to scale, "Hurry up! Faster!" she yelled as Neo was closing in. She leapt towards Yang with an outstretched hand, determined to halt her escape.

In an instant the black ribbon started pulling Yang up the building fast, faster than she'd expect anyone to be capable of, she wasn't light after all. Neo's clawing grasp scratched at her target's boot before passing beneath it, failing to grab on. She glared up at her victim as she landed, only to watch as she reached the top of the roof and out of her reach.

Yang tripped over the ledge and forward with a thud onto the roof of the building. She lost grip on Gambol Shroud which continued to pull itself at an alarming speed away from her. Looking up she saw no one, only that the ribbon now descended over the other side of the building she was on. They were getting away. Stumbling to her feet and rushing into a sprint Yang chased the weapon as it flung itself over the ledge and down into an alley. She heard the smash of glass as she leaned over the edge, looking down she could see the ribbon pulling the rest of the weapon into a lower window on the next building.

She wouldn't let her run away this time. She was awake and she could stop her. Taking a few steps back she charged towards the edge of the roof, leaping off and punching Ember forwards towards one of the lower windows on the next building. The blast from the weapon smashed the window open as she rolled into it. She was a single floor above where Gambol Shroud had vanished into but it wasn't hard to hear that another window had smashed ahead, somewhere below her. She continued her sprint down the old hallway, the wooden boards beneath her creaking with each step. The window ahead of her was boarded up, but that was no barrier for her. She leapt forward as she kicked against the ground with her ankle-mounted Celica, propelling herself forward with a blast towards the window and Ember aimed at it. With a devastating impact she punched right through the boarded window.

Rain and glass showered down around her form as she came hurtling into another alley that went straight on ahead. Some distance forward she could see a figure. Black hair. A bow. A white trailing coat. It was her. Yang landed with a roll as she pursued her target, Blake already had some distance on her and was coming up to a corner. "Blake! Stop!" yelled Yang as she ran as fast as her legs would allow. She received no response as she saw her target turn the corner. Yang briefly managing a glance at her porcelain face, but not enough to discern any details. She reached the corner and used Celica to kick off the wall on her right, propelling herself once more down her chosen route to close the gap.

There was an intersection just before them. Yang had gained on Blake and once more called out her name, but she received no response. As Blake came up to the intersection she split into two forms of herself and ran down both. Her semblance. However, Yang knew it didn't last very long and as she reached the intersection she quickly glanced left, empty. Looking right she saw her once more and gave pursuit. For a final time using Celica to close the last bit of distance between them. Reaching out her left arm she tackled into Blake's waist only to pass through her and slam into the floor unprepared. It was her copy. Grunting and raising her head to look down the passage she once thought was clear she saw Blake turn a corner at the end of it. She was deceived. Blake had hidden herself behind a trash can to make it seem like the one that turned left was the fake. And when Yang had turned right she came out from hiding and ran.

She couldn't give up. Standing back up to her feet she started a run towards the last direction she saw Blake head. As she reached the intersection a heel came rushing in front of her face, smashing into the wall besides her. With a kick off the wall Neo landed back on her feet and gave Yang a lopsided smirk. With a blink her eyes swapped colours. The rage was too much. With a scream and a burst of fire Yang's eyes turned red and her hair lit up. She offered no words, no insults. She voiced only her frustration. She leapt at Neo with her fist ready, slamming with great force towards her. Neo opened up her umbrella as it lit up with the flame from the attack before rebounding Yang's fist. Yang wouldn't let the foiled attack stop her as she made a sharp hook with Celica, aiming to kick Neo in the hip. But once more the smaller woman evaded as she jumped up over the leg, slamming her knee into Yang's face and causing her to recoil, to be pushed back further from Blake.

She couldn't take it any more. The fact Neo kept getting in her way didn't seem fair. It didn't seem right that she was simply unable to best her. She started sending punch after punch with her left fist towards the woman who just kept on dodging, parrying and blocking with ease. Not even her semblance was helping her, and Neo hadn't even used hers yet. With a sharp kick she sent Yang stumbling back again. Followed by another, and another. With each attack Yang was forced further and further away from Blake and the alley and towards the street. And Neo was loving every moment, knowing the pain and torture she was causing.

As Yang tried to charge at her Neo delivered a wide arcing kick that slammed her into the wall, pinning her against it. She brought her leg back and slammed into her gut again. And again. And again. Yang tensed herself, if she could maybe build up her semblance enough, if she could endure a little more maybe she could do something. And Neo was falling right into the trap as she gave kick after kick, the same motion into her torso. The tears welled up in Yang's eyes once more as they started to slide down her cheeks. The repeated attacks to the same spot doubling in pain each time. Finally Neo halted and grabbed Yang by the throat, pinning her to the wall as she wiped away her tears with the finger of her other hand. Once having done that she threw her to the ground. Groaning and stumbling Yang got up to her feet, she could see Neo lick her tears from her finger, a sadistic expression as she looked down at her with yet another deep blush.

Yang decided she had built up enough power and with as much effort as she could muster she jumped up towards Neo, moving herself into a drop-kick. Her feet came into contact with her umbrella but it wasn't damage Yang was aiming to do. She needed pure force. As Celica activated she launched from Neo's umbrella, the impact so powerful that Neo was even shunted backwards slightly from the blast unharmed. Cracks appeared in the walls of the alley and Yang fell onto her back in the middle of the open street, having covered some distance.

The sound of marching feet rushed to her and rifles cocked. When Yang opened her eyes the Atlesian soldiers were around her, two at the front kneeling down with three behind them, all aiming rifles down into the alleyway at Neo. They opened fire as bullets lit the area up, smoke and dust erupting. Yang watched on, her red eyes turning lilac and her hair fading back to its regular state. The smoke cleared. Neo was untouched with her umbrella opened. She started slowly walking back, her lopsided grin ever present as her eyes blinked, swapping colours again. Before the soldiers could open fire again the walls that Yang had damaged started to crumble, creating an efficient escape for her rival. Yang had just inadvertently saved Neo. The tears continued to fall from her eyes. She failed to catch Blake. She failed to beat Neo. And because of her the soldiers failed to do anything about it. Shutting her eyes tight she could feel the soldiers start tending to her, calling over a medic and securing the perimeter. One thought kept rushing through her head. Why did Blake run? Why did she try so hard to get away from her? She could feel herself being moved, or carried. The sound of a humming engine drawing near, doors opening. She was laid upon something soft as the sound of the doors closed and the engine revved. The more the adrenaline faded the more she felt the impact of Neo's kicks. A sharp scratch touched her arm and quickly her eyes started to feel weighted. She had been sedated and she was starting to lose consciousness. Eventually she didn't hear anything at all.

She didn't know where she was. Everything was dark. She could hear her surroundings but they always seemed muffled, as if her head was under a pillow or she was wearing headphones. The first thing she felt was something scratching softly at her neck along with a strange buzzing sound. A bee maybe? After a while new sounds came in, stuff moving around. Doors opening. A familiar voice, it sounded almost like her father.

"Oh? Are you her friend?" his voice spoke, she could barely hear it and heard no response, as if the other person was too far away. A friend though? It had to be Blake. She had no other friends in Vale. "I admit I didn't know you had such a close relationship with her" continued Taiyang's voice. Once more Yang couldn't hear the reply, it was too soft, too far away. It was just like Blake to be quiet. "Hah, that's a cute picture. I'm glad she has someone she can rely on again" her father's voice spoke, he almost sounded happy, relieved that his daughter seemed to be completely over her disability. "You got matching ones? I remember when me and Summer planned something like that, we didn't go through with it though. Thought it was too... Oh, no, don't get me wrong. It's nice that you trust each other that much". The conversation had started to confuse Yang, perhaps it was only because she could hear one side of it.

Various sounds continued. Doors opening. Closing. Opening again and closing once more. Footsteps all around her, the sound of consecutive beeps. She didn't doubt she was in a hospital by this point. Sooner or later and light started to shine into her eyes as they began to creep open. The fluorescent light above her shining down onto her bed. She gently tilted her head to her left side to see a familiar person sitting beside her, and smiling brightly.

"Dad..?" questioned Yang as her father leaned forward from his chair, resting a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

"Steady buttercup, you got banged up pretty bad" he spoke, simply seeming happy that his daughter was awake.

Yang groaned as she tried to move, the pain on her ribs was there but it was manageable. "Why... What are you..?" she asked.

Taiyang chuckled softly, "Did you really think I was going to sit at home when both my daughters ran away?" he asked. Of course he would've come running. He wouldn't have dared sit on his ass while his one-armed daughter was out in the world. With Ruby he had to stay behind for Yang, and when she left there was no reason for him not to chase her. "I'm just glad you had someone else looking out for you until I got here, and you're glad your aura is so strong, otherwise you wouldn't be able to move a muscle right now" he continued, picking up a glass of water from the side of the bed and offering it to his daughter.

Yang drank from the glass with a thirst, her mouth felt so dry it seemed like it was about to crack, the refreshing liquid quenched her desires. She drank so eagerly that she almost choked, causing Taiyang to pull the glass away from her. With a loud sigh Yang leaned back into her bed. "Company..?" she asked, eye lilac eyes turning to Taiyang.

With a knowing grin Taiyang answered, "Yeah. She cares a lot for you, you know? She was sitting right here besides you. I didn't know you were... like that, but honestly I don't mind. You make a nice couple" he continued, chuckling.

Yang looked even more confused than she had earlier. "Couple..?" she questioned.

Taiyang waved a hand at her in jest, "Pfft, no need to hide it from me. You know who I'm talking about" he answered with a wink.

She groaned again as she sat back up, "I... I'm not sure what you're talking about, me and Blake-" she was cut off abruptly.

"Blake?" asked Taiyang. He pulled out his scroll and briefly swiped through some of his images. "No, look. She sent me this when she was here, she's really quiet. Your girlfriend, Neo" he responded, showing Yang the picture. In it Yang was asleep, unconscious. Neo was right there, with her lips pressing up against her cheek and looking to the camera. More alarmingly was that something was different. Yang's neck ached as she saw it. Upon her neck in bold black letters, "NEO". And upon Neo's neck was Yang's name in the same format.

Her eyes went wide and blazed red instantly. Taiyang knew the look, those eyes haunted him every time he closed his own. Not because they were Yang's, but because they were also Raven's. She tried to punch the scroll in her father's hand with a scream of frustration but her body ached as she attempted, causing her to whimper and halt her action half-way.

"Y- Yang!? What's wrong!?" yelled her father, standing to his feet as her heartbeat started to race, prompting the heart monitor to beat at a faster pace.

Yang continued to cry, she couldn't believe it. Neo was out to destroy every aspect of her life. She had fooled her own father into thinking they were a couple. Her father had talked and laughed with the girl who tortured her. He thought they were a cute couple. Everything about it was wrong. It was sick. How could someone be so twisted? So cruel? Her heart continued to pound faster as her father called for help, she felt like she was going to burst a blood vessel. A rush of hospital staff came into the room and pinned her down to her bed. Yang tried to push past them to see her father, "D-Dad! Don't her back in! She's-!" she was halted as one of the staff tried to push her back down to the bed, another preparing a syringe. Yang managed to yell out once more, "Tell them to bring Winter Schnee! Tell her I need to talk!" she continued as her father watched horrified.

"Yang I will just calm down please!" he replied frantically as one of the doctors finally sedated Yang. They started to ease off the pressure upon her as the anaesthetic started to work its way into her blood. Taiyang sat back down on his chair, holding his head in his hands, unsure of the entire situation.

As Yang felt herself grow weaker she tried to voice her words, she tried to warn her father about who Neo was. But her voice never escaped her lips. Slowly the room grew darker and she soon fell under once more.

Neo knew who her father was and Blake was still missing. Nothing was going right.