Chapter 2

11 Years Ago

Yang sat on the floor in front of the television with Ruby on her lap. It was the middle of the night and well past both their bedtimes. But the Vale Grand Prix only happened once a year. Sure, the broadcast was not live, but it was the whole race. Most other Grand Prix were shown as highlight packages because they were seen as too niche for normal television. Only the Vale Grand Prix, Formula 1's most prestigious race, was shown in full.

The year before the pair had accompanied their parents to most of the races. After Summer's accident, Taiyang retired, a broken man. He showed no interest in racing at all anymore. Yang had asked if he could take her and Ruby to nearby Grand Patch to see the F2 race but he had categorically refused. Yang had snuck out and gone herself anyway, then been grounded for a week upon her return. It seemed Taiyang was desperate to keep his daughters away from racing. That, of course, only made them more interested.

On the television, the pre-race ceremonies were already underway. It looked like quite the party, but it soon turned somber. There was a moment of silence for Summer Rose. Ozpin and mechanic Qrow Branwen rolled a silver car out onto the grid, its cockpit full of roses. They symbolically rolled it to the front between the two cars on the front row. The command was given and the other drivers fired up their engines. They slowly filed past the silent car, some drivers saluting as they passed. When the field had gone, Ozpin and Qrow rolled the car back to the garage.

"Why did mom have to die?" Ruby asked. It was a heavy question for someone still so young.

"I don't know." Yang replied. "I guess it was just her time." Yang knew the technical explanation from overhearing Qrow and Taiyang talking about it. A tiny manufacturing defect in a component of the brake system caused the part to fail and the brakes with it. There was nothing anyone could have done. Taiyang had quit the race and rushed to the scene, only to find a track worker performing CPR on Summer's bloody and lifeless body. Her limbs were twisted at horrifying angles and with one look he had known she was dead.

"I miss her." Ruby said.

"Me too." Yang said. "She wasn't my mom, but she treated me like I was her daughter."

"I feel bad for dad." Ruby continued. "He lost both our moms."

"Yeah, it wasn't the same for my mom, but it must have been hard." Yang said, desperately struggling not to cry.

"Do you think it's why he's so mad all the time?" Ruby asked. "I heard him yell at you when you asked to watch the race."

"That probably has something to do with it." Yang said. "I think he's afraid."

"What's he afraid of?" Ruby asked.

"He doesn't want us to become race car drivers." Yang explained. "He's afraid he'll lose us too."

"I don't want to be a driver." Ruby said. "It's scary. I want to be like Uncle Qrow."

"Then you can be my mechanic." Yang suggested.

"One day." Ruby said.

"What are the two of you doing up so late?" Taiyang asked. "You're watching…" He clenched his fists and took a deep breath. "I should have known. Ruby, go to sleep, I need to talk to your sister."

"But I want to…" Ruby moaned.

"But nothing." Taiyang said. "Go to bed now." Ruby sighed and went to her room.

"Don't be mad at Ruby, I woke her up for this." Yang said.

"I told you I didn't want you watching this." Taiyang said. "How many times do I have to ground you before you listen? And now you've dragged your sister into this."

"Don't worry, Ruby doesn't want to drive." Yang said.

"That's a relief." Taiyang sighed.

"But I'm going to be a driver one day." Yang said defiantly. "You can punish me all you want, but you won't stop me."

"No daughter of mine will be a Grand Prix driver." Taiyang said firmly.

"I don't care what you say or do." Yang persisted. "I will be a driver."

"Then you'll cease to be my daughter." Taiyang said. "I will never allow myself to care about another race car driver. If that means turning my back on my own daughter, sobeit."

Present Day

As Yang and Ruby approached the Beacon GP garage, they could hear a loud argument inside. "This is an outrage!" A girl shouted. "I will not play second fiddle to some rookie…"

"And here's your teammate now." Ozpin said as Ruby and Yang rounded the corner and entered the garage. "Weiss Schnee, meet your teammate Yang Xiao-Long and her sister, your car's designer, Ruby Rose."

"You made me the second driver and let a child design the car?!" Weiss yelled. "What kind of operation are you running here? When I signed that contract I was promised the best equipment and the team's full support."

"Hold on, Weiss Schnee, as in Schnee Automotive?" Yang cut in.

"Yes, and I already regret not signing with them." Weiss hissed. "How could you pair me up with this loser?"

"Nice to meet you too princess." Yang said.

"It's heiress actually." A girl said from the shadows. "You know, I've got to wonder why you didn't sign with the reigning champions, particularly when your father owns the team. You must have some real daddy issues."

"I will not take this abuse and I will not be the second driver!" Weiss screamed.

"Both drivers will be treated equally." Ozpin assured her. "Yang only has the odd number because she signed with us first."

"This is wholly unacceptable!" Weiss continued. "My lawyers will…"

"I won't force you to race for me." Ozpin cut her off. "You can try to find a new team, but practice starts in a few hours so I suspect your options will be quite limited."

Weiss clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. She was shaking with anger. "This isn't over." She seethed. With a huff she stomped off.

"I'm sure she'll come around." Ozpin said.

"I hope so." Yang said. "I could certainly do without the distraction."

"Now that you've met your teammate, I suppose you should both meet our engine specialist." Ozpin said. "Blake, come on over." The girl who had taunted Weiss earlier stepped forward. Long black hair flowed from beneath a simple cap with a Merlot Engines logo on it. "Yang Xiao-Long and Ruby Rose, meet Blake Belladonna."

"Nice to meet you." Blake said flatly. "Now if you don't mind, I've got some work to do." She turned around and went back to work without waiting for a reply.

"She's...intimidating." Ruby said.

"You should try to start a conversation with her." Yang suggested.

"Good idea." Ozpin said. "I should probably try to smooth things over with Ms. Schnee." He sighed and headed off in the general direction Weiss had taken.

Ruby approached Blake. "Hey Blake." She said. Blake ignored her and kept working on the engine. "Your work is really amazing. The way you sculpted the exhaust pipes is beautiful."

"You designed the chassis right?" Blake asked.

"Yep, I designed and built it!" Ruby replied excitedly.

"Well you screwed up the engine mounts." Blake said. "Do you have no concept of how much torque a Formula 1 engine produces? If I hadn't replaced them the car would have split in half as soon as your sister hit the gas."

"I'm sorry." Ruby said.

"You would have been really sorry if I hadn't caught it and your sister was splattered across the track." Blake grumbled.

"Give her a break, she's new at this." Yang protested. Ruby was starting to cry. "We're supposed to be on the same team."

"I don't think you understand." Blake said. "If she doesn't learn and learn quickly, someone will die. I don't have time to give her a break or let her figure it out on her own. Of all people, a Rose should know that."

"I don't mind you correcting her." Yang said. "I'm sure there's a lot she can learn from you and I know she'd love your help. Just try to be civil about it."

"I'll consider it." Blake said. "Now please leave me alone so I can finish this."

"Ruby, I think you did a great job on the cars." Yang said. "They're beautiful." She ran her hand across the hood of the car. Her name was emblazoned on the side of the car in black lettering beside the yellow flame that was her logo. Just below was a large number 7 and below that the Beacon GP logo. 'Gambol Shroud' was printed on the side of the engine where the Merlot logo would originally have been. Beside it was Weiss' car. Her name was also in black with her white snowflake logo above a number 8.

"Thanks, I worked really hard." Ruby sniffled. "Crescent Rose Mk. 3 is my best work yet."

"Drivers usually get to name their cars you know." Yang said. She crouched beside it, taking in its profile. "Ember Celica." She said with a sweep of her hand. "We should print that on there somewhere."

"I want to print Crescent Rose on it too." Ruby added. "I wonder what Weiss will name her car."

"I wonder why she didn't sign with her father's team." Yang said. "It's really weird. They're the team to beat. Heck, I'd want to drive for them, even if I had to be the second driver."

"Ozpin suggested I apologize to you all." Weiss said, suddenly appearing at the entrance to the garage. She said nothing else.

"Oh, I was just naming my car." Yang said, hoping Weiss had not heard her talking about her. "Do you want to name yours?"

"Myrtenaster." Weiss said. She stubbornly refused to smile or say anything beyond what was absolutely necessary.

"If it'll make you happy, you can have the number 7." Yang offered. "I really don't care."

"I'll think about it." Weiss said. She walked over to her car and began looking it over. "Now leave me alone."

"I can really feel the love." Yang sighed.

"It makes you miss when it was just the two of us doesn't it?" Ruby said. "I really hope we can all get along at some point."

Yang fired up her engine and drove out onto the track at the start of the first practice session. It was her first time on the circuit and her first time in a Formula 1 car, but she felt comfortable. She accelerated down the frontstretch, a narrow ribbon of road between towering buildings on the left and a line of trees on the right. She was hard on the brakes into turn one, a sharp right. She hit the gas on the exit of the corner, rocketing uphill, more buildings on the left and now a precipitous cliff on the right. A sweeping right was next. The car oversteered a little but she held it, getting the car straight before she had to snap it into a hard right in front of the Vale Casino. A short downhill straight lead to another tight right-hander with a botanical garden dominating the scenery to the right of the track. A steep downhill lead to an impossibly tight left-hand hairpin in front of the train station. She spun her wheels on exit and they barely regained grip before the next complex of tight right turns. The second of them was likely the most important on the track, leading as it did into the fastest stretch. Yang took the corner more slowly than necessary to get a good launch on exit. To the right was a cliff wall and on the left the cliff continued down to the sea. After flashing through a small tunnel Yang slung the car through a flat-out right-hand sweeper. On exit the track ran steeply downhill, dropping all the way to sea level. At the bottom of the hill, she slid the car through a quick left-right chicane and onto the road that ran along the harbour. After a short straightaway, she cut the car through a tight but unwinding left past the front of a famous dust shop. The final straight took her along the waterfront into a right-hand hairpin, not as tight as the other hairpin, but tight nonetheless. Then she was full throttle onto the main straight and across the line.

After a few laps Yang pulled back into the garage. "How was it?" Ruby asked before Yang could even get her helmet off.

"It's a little loose, but it should be good for qualifying." Yang said. "For the race you'll need to tighten it up a bit." Ruby was relieved. She had never set up an F1 car before. "Blake, come here." Yang called.

"What is it?" Blake asked.

"I think we need some changes with the gearing." Yang said. "There's too much top speed, so it's going to waste. On exit of low-speed corners in first gear, there's too much torque. I can't keep the wheelspin down."

"Those are opposite problems." Blake sighed. "I suppose I can give you a longer first gear and shorten the others. Or, I could shorten them all and you can use second gear for slow corners."

"The second choice sounds quicker." Yang said. "Can you make the change before practice is over?"

"No." Blake said. "You'll have to wait for the next session."

"Alright, Ruby, could you loosen it up a little?" Yang asked. "I want to run a few more laps."

"I thought there was already too much oversteer." Ruby said.

"Yeah, but I want to see if it's faster." Yang explained. "It's only a qualifying setup. I can live with it for a few laps."

"I'll get right on it." Ruby said. With a few turns of her wrench the adjustment was done. "You're good to go!"

Yang pulled out of the garage just as Weiss pulled back in. "Get over here now!" Weiss demanded. Ruby and Blake rushed over. "The gearing is all wrong and the oversteer is impossible."

"Which direction would you like me to fix the gearing?" Blake asked, trying to be civil.

"Both." Weiss said. "We're wasting speed on the top end there's too much torque on the low end. It's a disaster. Fix it now!"

"I won't be able to fix it before practice is over." Blake said.

"I don't care." Weiss said. "I'm not driving it again until it's fixed anyway." She undid her belts, got out of the car and stormed off.

"Looks like she described the same problems as Yang." Ruby said to Blake. "I wish she could be nice about it." Blake shrugged and set about working on Weiss' transmission while Ruby made changes to the suspension.

After a few minutes Yang pulled back in. "That was a little too loose." Yang admitted. "I almost put it in the harbour. Man, there's really no room for error at this place."

"I can tell." Ruby said. "There's some hay in your wheel." Haybales lined the wall along the harbour. Apparently Yang had slid into them a bit, even if she had not felt it. "Do you want me to put it back like it was?"

"Make it tighter." Yang said. "I'm pretty happy with the qualifying setup. We may as well start planning for the race."

"I forgot to ask earlier." Ruby said. "On a scale of 0-10, where 0 is super-tight, 10 is super-loose and five is just right, how was it?"

"On the first run it was a 8." Yang said. "This time out it was an 11. For the race I'd like a 6." Yang looked over at Weiss' car. "Where'd she go?"

"She demanded I fix the gearing before she'd drive it again." Blake said.

"Her loss." Yang shrugged. "I guess I get extra time to work on the handling."

After practice, Ozpin returned to the garage with the lap times. Ruby, Yang, Blake and Weiss gathered around as he read them off. First place was quite a surprise. "Pyrrha Nikos had the fastest time." Ozpin said. "I didn't think the car had the speed. Then came the two Schnee cars, Coco Adel, Mercury Black…"

"Who's Mercury?" Yang asked.

"He drives for Phase Two." Ozpin replied. "Next was our very own Yang Xiao-Long. That's an impressive first outing."

"Where was I?" Weiss asked, flabbergasted that she had not beaten Yang.

"Let's see...eleventh." Ozpin said.

"Give me that!" Weiss ripped the list out of Ozpin's hands.

"Maybe you should have taken more laps instead of waiting for the transmission." Blake said. "You probably would have gone faster. Yang's got more laps under her belt and her gears will be changed before the next practice anyway"

Weiss threw the paper in the air and stomped off in what was becoming a common scene. Ruby caught the paper. "Hm, only 19 of the 20 drivers ran." She said, looking at the list. "One of Team Haven's drivers didn't set a time. I wonder if they're having trouble with their car. Maybe I could help."

"Have you finished preparing our cars for the second practice?" Ozpin asked. Ruby nodded. "Then go on and ask them. They're pretty new to this and I'm sure they could use the help."

"Why are you letting her help the opposition?" Blake asked.

"There may come a time when we can use some assistance." Ozpin said. "It would be wise to be friendly with those who can aid us. Just don't give away any secrets."

Ruby walked down to Team Haven's garage. True to form, Sun had his shirt off and was working on his car. Neptune sat in the corner. "Hey guys." Ruby said. "I'm Ruby Rose, a mechanic for Beacon GP. I saw that Neptune didn't run any laps and was wondering if you were having car trouble I could help with."

"Nice to meet you." Sun said. "Thanks for the offer but the car's fine. The driver needs some work though." Ruby tilted her head and gave a quizzical look. "He's too afraid."

"I'm not afraid of driving a racecar." Neptune cut in. "This track isn't that fast. It's just...water."

"He can't swim and he's afraid he'll drown if he crashes into the harbour." Sun explained.

"You do realize that there are rescue swimmers everywhere, not to mention dozens of boats?" Ruby asked. "There's nothing to worry about."

"That's easy for you to say." Neptune said. "You're not the one driving."

"See, he's hopeless." Sun said. "How are you going to race at Mistral? The track runs over a river."

"That river's like ankle deep." Neptune said. "It's not the ocean."

"Well, if he won't drive, could I?" Ruby asked. "I always wanted to try it."

"You're a little girl!" Neptune protested. "What are you, fifteen?"

"I'm sixteen thank you." Ruby said.

"So, Neptune, are you going to drive or are you not as brave as a little girl?" Sun pressed.

"I...I...I'll do it." Neptune relented.

The problem solved, Ruby started walking away. "Glad I could help!"

Inspirations

- Yang's relationship with her father is meant to be a bit like Niki Lauda's with his, though the circumstances are vastly different.

- At least at this point, Weiss is meant to embody the sort of team-destroying primadonna who can't co-exist with a teammate who is as fast or faster, like Fernando Alonso or Alain Prost. Don't try to argue with me about Alonso or Prost, I don't want to hear it and I'll probably just block you.

- Ending up in the harbour would not be unprecedented, though it would be extremely rare.

Inaccuracies and Anachronisms

- The sort of memorial for a fallen driver depicted at the beginning of the chapter would not have happened. The last thing the other drivers wanted was to be reminded of their own mortality.

- Permanent numbers carried by a team throughout the year were a later invention. The reigning champ had number 1 but other than that they were assigned on a race-by-race basis. I threw it in to add some drama.

- The neat schedule of three practices and a qualifying session is also a modern invention. Things tended to be a bit more ad-hoc. I use it because it's convenient.

- Setting up a racecar is way more complicated than I make it seem.

- I can't think of any driver who would be afraid enough to sit out for any reason, let alone the minute prospect of ending up in the water.