Chapter: Yang

(It seems like such a simple thing.)

Taking time to reload Ember Celica calms her, even if she does it more often in battle than in the comfort of her room. Twenty-four shots. Twenty-four, glorious, potentially lifesaving, shots.

For now, Yang sits on her bed, alone in Team RWBY's dorm for the first time in forever. She takes deep breaths, wiping the chambers down before starting to reload. She may not have liked bringing up the memories from earlier, but at least Blake's going to the dance now.

Having Raven as a mother made Yang's childhood… interesting to say the least.

Yang switches to her other gauntlet and starts to wipe down the remaining chambers.

(It seems like such a simple thing.)

And she almost has a heart attack.

"No," the blonde groans, moving towards the only working lamp in the room. "Please don't be a scratch. I don't have time for you to be a scratch. Mummy doesn't need this now. Don't you dare be a sc-"

It's not a scratch.

'B'

Yang blinks. Her throat closes, and her hands start to shake. She takes a deep breath and tries not to get her hopes up. There is a space on either side of the letter. She turns the gauntlet and puts the letters – one letter per chamber, for half of her chambers – together in her head.

'Blake.'

The letters are smooth, indented, and yet won't cause damage or unnecessary friction against the shell casings. In fact, they look like they could barely be there at all. Only running her fingers around the edges reveals that something is different.

Yang puts the gauntlet down on the table and sits in the nearby chair. So simple, and yet so deceptive. But…

"I have a soul mark." Yang takes a few moments to process her sentence. Then she smiles and repeats herself. "I have got a soul mark. I've got a soul mark! I've got a soul mark! F*** yah! I've got a soul mark! Woo hoo!"

She cheers and yells while she jumps around her room. Five minutes later, Yang dives for her Scroll and gets ready to tell everyone.

She writes up a text to mass-send, but holds off. Bringing up the phone app, Yang is giddy as she goes to make a personal call to the one person who weathered her disappointment – her parents called it a 'temper tantrum' – over not having a soul mark when Ruby got seven.

Her aunt picks up on the first ring. "Hey, Yang."

"Hi, Auntie," Yang says, shaking in excitement. "You'll never guess what happened."

"… Something good?" Yang can hear the smile in the woman's voice.

"Something amazing!" Yang flops backwards on her bed. "Blake!"

Her aunt chuckles as something rustles in the background. The woman's probably doing paperwork. "That's your partner, right? Did she ask you out?"

Yang leaps to her feet, laughing out a disbelieving, "Auntie!"

"What?" her innocent-sounding aunt replies. "You're a lovely girl, you kick a***, and you do have a dance coming up don't you? Summer has been nagging about sending you girls some of her old dresses. You did get your present, right? We don't actually need to send you girls dresses?"

"No, no," Yang says quickly, sitting back on her bed with a smile, calming down. "Thanks for the lien. We are all fitted and dressed to impress over here." Her aunt laughs. "But Auntie, I got a soul mark, and it says 'Blake'."

The line goes silent for a second. Before fear rears up, her aunt squeals. "Oh my gosh! Congratulations, Yang! Oh, I am so happy you've found someone like that. How are feeling? Do you know who it is? When did you get it? Where is it on Ember Celica? What does it-"

Yang laughs, a thick sound as she wipes the tears from her cheeks. This is the reaction she wanted. She's heard the horror stories from her friends back in Patch, about what their parents say; about the concern on their loved-ones' faces. She knows her parents – all three of them – are not going to take this well. They didn't take Ruby's well, and only her aunt, uncle, and she know how many Ruby had on her weapon the first day.

"I'm feeling wonderful, Aunt Danny," Yang says, wiping her cheeks again. "I am… so glad to have a soul mark. To know that…"

"Yang," her aunt's tone is sympathetic. "Never doubt your ability to love. You are growing to be an amazing woman, but you're still just starting life. I'll bet you any money that this won't be the last mark you'll get."

The words on her tongue die when a heavy thud echoes from her aunt's end of the line, followed by her uncle asking, "What are you doing?"

"Paperwork!" is shouted back by her aunt. Yang laughs when her aunt mutters 'hold on' through the phone. She hears shuffling. "Mark your own tests, Qrow, and stop trying to slip it in with Birch's!

"I'm back," Yang's aunt says, though Yang can still hear her uncle moaning in the background about Danny being 'the worst partner'. "Now, hun, tell me everything."

Yang laughs again and does, feeling lighter than air.

A/N: Thanks for reading!

Thank you, Baconlord53! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Thank you, Littlest1, for your review! Glad you asked; his chapter is the one after the next. It explains more about his… weapon situation. Thank you again for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Thank you, HazeCruzz, for your review! Next chapter explains a little more on how their soulmarks work. It'll be slow, but eventually things will come to a head one way or another. Thank you again for your review! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Thank you, Phoenix8221, for your review! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

That ends team RWBY's starting soulmarks. So… who's ready for an exposition chapter? Jaune's chapter will be posted shortly after it, to make up for that. Team JNPR, here we go.

Thanks again for reading.

Have a great week, everyone.