Chapter 70

Qrow, Tai and Yang glanced towards the door as they heard a loud bang from outside the room. "Was that... Ruby's door?" Taiyang stood to his feet as he asked the others. Both Yang and Qrow stood up with him and all three briskly made their way to the door. Outside of the room they briefly caught a glimpse of Weiss as she entered another room further down the hall.

"The hell was she doing...?" Qrow narrowed his eyes as he moved to Ruby's door and opened it wide. Ruby seemed fine as she lay asleep in her bed. Yang entered the room itself to stand beside her sister and her lilac eyes scanned her form, but they caught something.

"What the...?" Yang leaned down as her fingers tilted Ruby's head to the side. Her neck had red marks; as if someone had grasped it tightly.

"Yang, what is it?" Tai looked over to her with some concern. He couldn't see that his daughter's eyes had already shifted into a shade of red. Yang turned and made her way back towards the door with teeth clenched and hands curled into fists; her expression beyond angry. "Yang-" began Tai as Qrow placed a hand upon his shoulder while the woman passed by the two of them.

"It's her team, so she'll deal with its problems," Qrow's crimson eyes tracked Yang as she swiftly made her way down the hall and towards the room Weiss had entered.

Not seconds ago Weiss had entered her room with hands shaking. She fell to her knees in front of her bed as she quickly reached for her scroll. Her expression was conflicted as her finger flicked through the contacts. Blake had awakened to the sound of her entering the room as she looked over with her bright golden eyes, "...Weiss?"

Weiss did not give a response as she frantically tapped away at her scroll. The door behind her opened as Yang stormed in. She slammed it shut behind her as Weiss closed her eyes tight; she knew what had happened. Blake watched at a loss before Yang grabbed Weiss by the back of her neck. Swiftly she pulled Weiss to her feet as she dropped her scroll onto the bed. Yang threw her towards the wall as her back slammed against it and a hand grasped her around the neck; pinning her against the wall.

"Yang!" Blake was alarmed by the sudden outburst as she stood up from her bed and rushed towards the two.

"The hell is your problem!?" Yang was furious as she brought back her right fist and sent a punch straight into Weiss' left eye. The back of her head hit the wall behind her as she let out a cry of pain; the first sound she had made since she killed Cinder.

Blake came up behind Yang as she tried to restrain her arms, "Yang stop it! What are you doing!?"

Yang had no intention of striking Weiss a second time as she was pulled away from her, "What were you doing Weiss!? Are you even thinking straight any more!? Did you lose the plot completely!?" The blonde managed to shake Blake away from her as she stood in front of Weiss who had burst into tears, she slid down the wall with her hands to her face.

"Yang what's happening!? What did she do!?" Blake had tried to make her way to Weiss' side, but Yang's outstretched arm stopped her.

"She tried to kill my sister!" Yang's glaring red eyes stared down upon Weiss, and as she spoke those words she had a sudden urge to hit her again. Blake was shocked to hear what had happened; her eyes turned wide as she looked down at Weiss in surprise.

"I- I didn't! I-!" Weiss cried in response as her words were stuttered, she could barely even form a coherent sentence.

"You what, huh!? You what, Weiss!? Do you think it's her fault or something!?"

"N- Yes- No! I- I just-!" Her hands gripped her head; her fingers coiling through her silver-white hair as she fell closer towards the floor in her sobbing state.

Yang made to take a step forward but Blake kept her back, "So that's it? You're looking for someone to blame for her death!? Why don't you look to the damn people who actually killed her, or better yet look at yourself! I tried to help her and Blake was already there, but you? You didn't even know she needed help until she was already dead!"

Weiss' tears only grew more intense as she was chastised by Yang; she was a mess upon the floor. She couldn't even speak any more at the thought that she might be the one who let it happen; that she was the one who failed to protect her. The blonde glared as she pushed past Blake and reached for Weiss' arm. The Faunus made to stop her, "Yang I think she's had enough-"

"She's not staying in here," Yang interrupted as she gripped the bandaged arm of Weiss. The woman gave out a cry of pain as she was pulled to her feet and dragged towards the door.

"Yang!" Blake called out before the two left the room.

Yang continued to pull Weiss down the hall and towards the room that had first been assigned to her. The door was opened and Weiss was thrown to the cold and still damp floor of the room. "Weiss, look at me," Yang ordered as her crimson gaze remained locked onto the girl. Yet Weiss refused to as she covered her tear-stained eyes. The blonde grit her teeth, "Don't you ever dare go near her again, you hear me? You stay away from my sister." As she expected though, she never received a reply from the girl. She turned and slammed the door shut behind her.

With a quickened pace she made her way back to her own room as her thoughts began to reflect on what had just happened, but her steps slowed as she reached the door. Her red eyes glanced down to the floor and narrowed as her clenched fist shook slightly. She heard the door creak open as Blake appeared from behind it; she held a concerned expression for her partner. Yang turned and violently struck the wall with her fist out of some form of frustration. Blake was quick to move to her aid; placing her left hand onto the blonde's shoulder in a comforting manner.

When Yang blinked she found that her eyes were watering. She wasn't crying but tears had formed as her eyes returned to their lilac shade. "I hit her. I hit her right in the face and I wasn't holding back Blake," Yang was no stranger to violence and she knew that Weiss had deserved it. But she never wanted a reason to hit a friend.

Blake frowned as she searched for the right words, "You... You did what you had to. She stepped out of line..."

"We're meant to be a team, Blake. I shouldn't need to hit one of you, and Weiss... She's smaller than me, and she's defenceless in her state but I still just..." Yang breathed a shuddered sigh as she closed her eyes.

"Let's just go inside, okay?" Blake's hand stroked against her shoulder soothingly as she gestured back towards the room. Yang nodded slowly and complied as the two closed the door behind them. Inside the bedroom Yang looked to Weiss' scroll upon the bed. She could see upon the screen that she had tried to call Winter, but no connection could be made. Was she already regretting what she had done and sought council and comfort from her sister? The thought only made Yang feel worse about what she had done in retaliation, but Blake was right. She tried to kill Ruby and one could say that she got off quite easily in regards to punishment, but it didn't make her feel any less rotten about punching her in the face.

The two sat down upon the edge of their bed as Blake wrapped an arm around her girlfriend's shoulder; she sat close against her form as she tried to comfort her. Lilac eyes glanced up towards Blake's golden gaze, "It couldn't have happened at a worse time either, I just... Practically swore to protect her... Then... Then all this happens..."

"Protect her?" Blake offered Yang a puzzled expression.

The blonde nodded her head as she looked back towards the ground. "Qrow and my dad... They're... Part of this group, and now I am too... They want you to be a part of it as well, and eventually Ruby since we're all already involved in what's going on..."

"Yang, I'm confused. What group?"

Yang paused as her eyes idly glanced around the room, thinking upon how to best explain the situation the group had stumbled upon. She gave another drawn sigh as she began talking.

Weiss lay upon the floor where Yang had thrown her. Both the arm that she grabbed and the eye that she punched throbbed with pain, and she continued to cry. Not just about what happened with Yang, but about everything that happened since they went to Higanbana. She didn't know why she had refused to accept what had happened, maybe perhaps she gave herself the impression that she was being strong, or resilient. But it was cruel to ignore her emotions, to not openly grieve about the loss of her lover. She deserved that much at least.

Her mind had been unclear since it happened. Not only with forcing shut the emotions but also the strange occurrences had been happening around her. She didn't know what was happening and it frightened her, and then she had heard Yang, Qrow and Tai talking about some power that she now held and how they had to protect her. She wanted to know what was happening, she needed answers. But as if her thoughts had been read she heard the door opening.

"Look, I'm gonna ignore what you did and assume Yang already made you pay for it. So while you're on the floor all teary eyed and vulnerable... Now is the best time to tell you what's going on because otherwise I get the feeling you're just going to pretend everything is fine. Right?" Qrow's voice was more stern than usual as his footsteps entered the room. He leaned against a wall near Weiss as his crimson gaze stared down upon her in an almost judging fashion. Weiss refused to look back at him in her current state, but she would at least listen to his words.

AN: Sorry that it's a small chapter, but it's the holidays and there is much booze to be consumed. I didn't want to leave you all completely hanging in the wind however, so I went ahead and took some time to write this next chapter out for you. As usual, thanks for reading.

Merry belated Christmas and I hope you all have a happy new year.