Time for everything to come crumbling down.
Yang, Jaune and Ruby stood at the entrance of the arena. Ruby was shocked silent. Jaune was Yelling for Pyrrha to get up. She was kneeling in front of Penny 2.0's Lifeless metal hull, Crying her eyes out. The thumping of the huge Alpha Nevermore crashing into the shield protecting the arena snapped Pyrrha out of it. Jaune ran to her side, picking her spear and shield up on the way.
"Pyrra, C'mon! That things gonna break into here any second!" Jaune stated.
Ruby put her hand on Pyrrhas shoulder.
"Ruby... I'm So Sorry..." Pyrrha managed to get out between sobs.
"Pyrrha.. It's Not your fault..." She whimpered in return.
The huge Nevermore went up high and rared, preparing to come back down with force.
"That's right Pyrrha, it's not..." Jaune added. "Whomever was on the intercom... this is all their doing.. We have to stop them before they take anyone else." Jaune handed Pyrrha her weapons. Pyrrha stood and nodded.
"Here it comes!" Yang yelled as she ran up to her teammates.
The Large monster came down on the shield with max velocity, and it shattered like glass. It came soaring towards them. In a fit of rage, Ruby picked up one of Penny's short-swords and faced the creature head on. She sprinted towards it and jumped. She shoved the sword into the monsters chest. It let out a god awful screech, and flew up. It soared around in a wide arc, and looped back for another attack. Yang heard something coming from behind them, so she quickly turned. A rocket locker zoomed past them and smashed into the creatures wing. Then another, and another. Six different rocket lockers smashed into the creatures hide, grounding it. The lockers opened up, revealing Jaune, Ruby, Ren, Nora, Yatsuhashi, and Neptunes weapons. All The students who participated in the tournament. They stood proudly on top of the fallen monster, wielding their various weapons. Surprisingly, the monster wasn't dead. It shook itself awake. Yatsuhashi and Sage used the upward momentum of the beast lifting its head to come down in a spinning slash, beheading the monster. Everyone readied their weapons and made their way to the docks. There, Ironwood laid the finishing shot into a Beowulfs head.
"What's going on?!" Ruby asked, still fighting tears.
"Grimm are crawling all over the city... The white Fang are invading Beacon... and to make matters worse, some... Vagabond stole one of my ships. Until we regain command the skies are out of our control.. So I'm going to take it back." Iron wood sighed. He turned to leave, but Jaune stopped him.
"What are we supposed to do?..."
Ironwood looked him in the eyes. "You have two options; Defend your kingdom and your school... Or save yourselves. No one would blame you if you ran..." With that, Ironwood boarded his ship and took off.
Sun scoffed. "I mean... C'mon?..."
Jaune nodded to the group of students. "We can take one of the abandoned Bullheads."
The students ran for the closest abandoned ship and boarded it. They used the auto pilot and flew put in the directions to Beacons port. A little ways away, the students saw Ironwoods ships engines burst into flame. The ship tilted began descending. Ruby opened the bottom of the ship. Jaune and two others yelled for her to stop, but it was too late. Ruby jumped. They saw her head back into the arena. She then shot out of it, riding a rocket locker towards the supposedly taken over ship.
Jaune told everyone to focus and yelled that they have to keep going. Yang was surprised and happy how confident and leader-like Jaune was being in this moment of confusion and stress. They got off the ship and ran into town, prepared to defend it with their lives. The students stood in a line formation, slowly making their way to the school as they hacked and slashed every Grimm that came their way. They made it to the front entrance, But were instantly surrounded. Just when they thought the onslaught couldn't get any worse the ground began to shake and rumble. In the distance a mountain top exploded and from it emerged a massive Bat-Dragon Grimm. As it began coming towards the town, Black globs of unknown substance started falling from its body. Wherever the miasma landed, Grimm spawned there from the goop. The situation became ten times worse. Jaune Noticed Blake chasing after a Red haired man in all black wearing a mask. At the same time, Pyrrha ran to Ozpin, whom was standing at the front door of the school.
"Yang! I need you to go help Blake! I'll go after Pyrrha!"
"But I-" Yang tried to argue.
"Go!" Jaune snapped.
Yang ran after Blake.
Pyrrha ran up to Ozpin and Jaune followed.
Yang stopped next to Blake. Blake was breathing heavy and looked scared. Yang noticed where she was looking. The red haired guy wasn't running anymore. He stood in a burning the library, staring and smiling. Blake took a step back and he smirked.
"You gonna Run, dearest? Is that what you are now?... A coward?" The man said in a over confident jackass tone.
"Why are you doing this?.." Blake whined. Yang was confused. She figured they knew each other.
"We were gonna Change The World, Remember?! We were destined to light the fires of revolution! Consider this the spark..." He chuckled.
Blake snapped. She screamed and charged him, her sword clashing against his. Yang watched on in shocked silence. She was so confused why all this was happening. She was even more so upset, however, at the fact she had to be seperated from Jaune.
"I'm NOT running, Adam... " Blake whispered confidently.
"You Will.." He replied. Their weapons clashed a few more times, and Adam laughed maniacally the whole time. It was clear he was faster and stronger than Blake. Yang had to step in. She knew she did... but she was frozen. She couldn't move for some unknown reason.
"This could've been OUR day! But you abandoned us! Just like everyone else in the world!" Adam yelled at Blake.
Blake skid back to a hault. "This isn't what I wanted... I wanted PEACE!"
Adam scoffed. "What you WANT... is IMPOSSIBLE!" Adam screamed as he sheathed his blade, preparing to unleash his lightning fast semblance. Instead, he backhanded Blake. She whimpered and hit the floor. Yang snapped out of her thoughts and got angry. "But I understand..." He continued, "Because all I want... Is YOU, Blake..." He kicked her weapon out of her hand. "And as I set upon this world and deliver the justice mankind so rightly deserves.. I will make it MY MISSION to destroy EVERYTHING you love..."
"Blake!" Yang screamed, her anger making her shake.
"Starting with your friends..." He whispered as he stood and slowly started walking towards Yang. Yang cocked her Gauntlets.
"If Jaune were here.." Yang seethed, "He'd tell me to protect you with my last breath.. So I will!"
"In that case..." Adam whispered. He quickly turned and stabbed Blake in the stomach.
Yangs anger and aura exploded.
In that moment; That split second she had before Yang and Adam collided, She had a dream. It was like her life was flashing before her eyes. Only, it wasn't what had happened. It was what she wished she could've seen happen. A daydream pulling her from reality. A reality in which Jaune wasn't there to save her. Yang imagined The blonde Boy and Herself. They were sitting under the shade of a large cotton tree on top of a grassy hill. Jaune was sitting to her right, staring peacefully at the clouds above. He looked so.. content.. so.. Happy. That, in turn, made Yang happy. That's all she really wanted. Just to see him happy. She noticed his hand propping him up laying on the ground next to her leg. She went to reach for it, to hold it lovingly, and that's when she woke up.
Yang had never in her life felt such intense, screaming pain before. Her entire right side was burning, like someone was repeatedly stabbing her right shoulder with burning daggers of lava. It took her a minute to seek through the blinding pain. She noticed she was belly down on the floor. She raised her head, and saw her severed right arm laying in front of her. Yangs eyes widened. Her mind broke, and she passed out from the pain.
Yang woke up to a familiar smell. It was the smell of musty wood. She instantly recognized it as home. She thought to herself that by some... strange and peculiar means.. she imagined all that time at Beacon. That she never left home to be a huntress, and that Jaune never existed. But, per the norm, she was wrong. She sat up. She was in the guest room. Three separate beds lined the wall, each separated by a night stand. She looked to her right, and noticed, where her arm had been, was merely a stub just above the elbow. She also noticed her sister sleeping soundly next to her. She quickly turned her head to her left, thinking for a second that just maybe Jaune would be sleeping there soundly. But, again, she was wrong. It was Lie Ren. This brought up a lot of questions in her head... Such as, 'Where is Nora?' But most importantly, she had to find out what happened to Jaune and Pyrrha.
"Yang?.." Yang heard her familiar distraught sisters voice whimper.
Yang slowly turned her head to look at Ruby. "Ruby... I... What happened?..."
Rubys eyes closed, and she began to cry. "I... Wasn't fast enough..."
Yangs eyes widened. "W-What... do you.. mean?..." She immediately thought the worse. She pictured herself never seeing Jaune again. She imagined she wouldn't have the strength to move on.
"Pyrrha..." Ruby pushed out between sobs, "Pyrrha is gone.."
Yang looked down. She thought about her fallen teammate and couldn't help feeling at least a bit sad.
"What about Jaune?..." Yang asked, hopefully.
"In the kitchen, eating breakfast." Yang and Rubys eyes snapped to the doorway. Standing there was their father, Taiyang. "He's pretty shaken up though.."
Yangs eyes bursted into tears. She was so happy he was okay. Ruby noticed this and shifted out of bed, and her dad immediately ran to her side.
"Woah, woah, woah! Steady, cowgirl, you're injured." Yang smacked his hand away.
"I told you not to call me that... I.. I have to see for myself.. that he's alright..." Taiyang put his hand on her left shoulder, and pushed her gently back into bed.
"I'll send him in here when he's ready to talk. Let me know when the boy wakes up." He pointed to a sleeping Ren. Yang had already forgotten he was there. But, while it was on topic, she thought she'd ask.
"Nora... What about Nora?..." Yang asked, concerned. Taiyang shrugged.
"All I know is when Qrow found you guys you were all unconscious and the Orange haired girl and the Black haired girl were missing. Not to mention Ozpin... No one is even close to knowing what happened to him..." Taiyang sighed. Ruby wiped the tears from her eyes and Yang followed suit.
"I... can understand me and Ruby... But why bring Jaune and Ren here?..." Ruby asked. Yang knew the answer. She heard it from the interrogation Jaune went through. From what she gathered, Jaunes family was all dead. Jaune and Ren were in the same boat...
"They... Don't have families to go back to... Ruby..." Taiyang mumbled with a hint of sorrow in his voice. Ruby sobbed and hung her head.
"I didn't know..." Ruby whispered. "Thank you for taking them in..."
"No problem, girls. Friends of yours is friends of ours. Get some rest kids... Let me know when the boy wakes up..." With that, Taiyang left the room and closed the door behind him. Yang laid back down and so did Ruby. Yang looked over at Ren. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to be separated from the one she loves. She hoped Ren knew where Nora was, because if not, they would have to find out. It's only fair. She had Jaune. She was happy for that, at the least.
Yang woke up again an hour later. She looked over to Ren, whom was sitting up now, clenching his stomach and groaning.
"Ren..." Yang whispered. "Nora?..." Yang didn't know what to say. That's all she could manage.
Ren met her eyes with his sorrowful globes. He slowly shook his head.
"Gone..." He whispered softly.
Yangs eyes began to water. She imagined how she felt when she thought she permanently lost Jaune. She imagined if Ren even slightly felt about Nora that same way, then he was in unmeasured and immense mental and emotional pain. Besides, Nora was one of the strongest people she had ever come to know. She would be missed.
Yang slipped out of bed and groaned. Her limbs were weak and her body was tired. But she had to tell her dad Ren was awake. And, most of all, she had to see Jaune...
Yang went out into the hall and made her way into the kitchen. No one was there and it was littered with dirty dished as usual. She went back into the hall and turned right. She went into the living room and noticed her father on the couch. He was watching the news. It was displaying the events of what happened to Beacon. The school had been overrun and completely fell. All students and faculty were evacuated. Those that made it out, anyway.
"Dad..." Yang said. Her father quickly turned.
"Yang. What are you doing out of bed?.." He asked, concerned.
"Ren's awake. He seems fine, besides some stomach pain.. and.. emotional pain..." Yangs father nodded. He went down the hall and dissapeared into the guest room.
"Yang.." Yang heard a voice that made her heart skip a beat that came from her right. She quickly turned to see Jaune propped against the wall next to a window. Jaune gave a small hint of a smile and Yang burst into tears and fell to her knees. Jaune ran up to her and embraced her. Yang wrapped her left arm around his back.
"I'm so glad you're okay..." Yang cried harder than she had ever cried in her life. Jaune tightened his arms around her. He began to cry too.
What did this all mean for their future? Where would their lives lead from there? Only time would tell. Thank you for reading.
...To Be Continued.