The next two weeks passed with no issue. Yang was spending time with her father in the training room, hitting at the bag as best she could. She was going to learn to fight with one arm if it killed her, but luckily Yang was a quick learner. Tai's moves were just variations of the ones she had already learned, but modified to fit a new stance, one she could hold without knocking herself halfway over. That should be enough...right? "Dad, when are we gonna go and get Blake back?!" She asked suddenly, standing up at the table.
Tai looked up at her, fork halfway to his mouth. "...Soon, why?" He seemed very nonchalant about it, and Yang gave him a glare. The red kind. He sighed and finished his bite of steak. "Yang, I know you're anxious, but we can't rush something like this. It's even more dangerous out there than it was, and you're still far from 100%." Her father scratched his chin. "Honestly I'd say you're...what, 80? 85%? I dunno, how much do you figure an arm is?"
He laughed, and for once Yang cracked a smile, even if the red in her eyes didn't let up for a second. "See? I can still make you smile, I saw that." Yang quickly hid her mouth and groaned, leaning on her arm out of laziness. "Tell you what, if rehabilitation goes well, we can make our move out next week, alright?" That was the last thing she'd expected to hear. Next week? Already? She slowly nodded and went back to eating her steak, which seemed to satisfy Tai for now.
A beowolf howled in the distance, drawing Yang from her thoughts to the dinner she'd eaten earlier that evening. It was about 11 pm now, and Tai was hopefully already asleep. He'd been waking up very early to get everything set up for Yang, so he'd been going to sleep early as well. And she appreciated it. She was sat at her old drafting desk, desperately trying to scribble together a letter for him, and while a letter was squiggled every now and again with her non-dominant hand, it was probably still prettier than Ruby's handwriting. Half of what she wrote just looked like some alien language.
"Dad,
I can't tell you how much I appreciate the last few days we've shared together. For once, I really felt like your daughter again, and it's a feeling I've missed immensely. It's a feeling I never thought I'd feel again, something I thought I was just too old for. But I guess I'll never outgrow you."
She thought for a moment and smiled.
"Truth be told, some days I really wish I could. You have no idea how much those puns drive Blake and Weiss crazy. It's the curse of that Xiao Long wit, I tell you! It's cursed!"
She chuckled, realized she was getting off track and got back to work on the main point.
"But...I need to go and find Blake. Alone. I know you've got your heart set on helping me, and I love you. I appreciate that. But I just can't have you help me with this one. I'll be back soon, I hope. Probably with our new house cat. Try not to burn the place down while I'm gone. Peace out, Daddy-O.
-Yang"
She looked it over, making sure it was all legible before folding it up and placing it on the kitchen table. With her last remaining weapon strapped to her wrist and a backpack over her shoulder, she stepped out of the house in her favorite brown jacket and some jeans. It was cold after all, the shorts wouldn't cut it out here.
She walked for what felt like days, but could only have been hours based on the fact that it was still dark. She shuffled along through the snow, flailing at branches and bushes as she passed them, trying to force her way through. When it came to traveling, Yang wasn't one for subtlety. She'd left that to Blake, always had. So she shouldn't have been surprised when she saw them.
Those eyes. Those piercing red eyes. Just like when she was little. This time though, it was different. Sure she had one less arm, sure Uncle Qrow wasn't there to save her again, but this time she didn't need them. Neither one. She activated her gauntlet and stared back at those red eyes with her own. "I'm not afraid of you. Not anymore." She growled, dropping her bag on the snowy forest floor.
She inhaled deeply and scanned the clearing. She counted 5 beowolves, as best she could tell. Normally not a problem, so this would be a good test of her studying under Tai. A good test of her new stance. A good test of her determination. The wolves roared and sprung forward, swiping at her wildly. Yang ducked the first one and threw a punch at its throat. That's the beowolf's weak point, after all. Their arms are awkward, like a dog's front legs, which means they can't properly protect their chest and throat. That's what makes them easy targets.
The wolf screeched and was launched into the air. If she was lucky, it wouldn't come back down. She felt claws trying to sink into her back and was pushed forward, protected by her aura. "Oh, you want some too?!" She screamed, turning to face it. The beowolf roared at her, obviously viewing her as an easy target. To be fair, up until recently, he would have been oh so very right. "Fine! Bring it!" She screamed, sprinting at it. She went to swing, but quickly threw herself off balance. Not having that extra...say...18 lbs? That was becoming an issue. Now on the ground, the wolf positioned itself on top of her, trying to chomp its way through her aura.
Yang's hair roared itself ablaze as her semblance activated. The snow around her began to melt steadily as she struggled. "Get the hell off of me you mangy mutt!" She squeaked out, kicking it hard in the stomach and launching it into the air a few feet. As it came back down, she hopped to her feet, swinging directly at its head as it came down and into a nice black splatter to coat the white snow.
She turned to the other three wolves, panting. This wasn't going incredibly, but it was going as she'd expected. They were sprinting at her, and she was ready for them. Then something surprising happened. They all fell as the sound of steel meeting bone rang through the air. They slid through the snow, stopping at Yang's feet, one beautiful slash through their backs, made by a sword.
Yang looked up and all she saw was red. Pure, unbridled fury. Adam. She screamed bloody murder, sprinting forward at the black cloaked man. This time, she wouldn't aim for the torso. She wouldn't aim to disable. His head was coming clean off this time.
