The evening had come around for this most eventful day, and Yang sat upon her top bunk with a tinge of nervousness in her stomach. The rest of the team were here, and while that was always a good thing for the usually optimistic blonde, they didn't know that there was a known criminal under Yang's blankets, hidden from them for now. She was glad that Neo didn't seem to be waking up soon, but she was worried - despite their feud, she had punched her while she was down, something she'd never do to anyone, except for the half-brunette.
"So Yang, aren't you going to get ready for the 'small' party Nora is mocking up for everyone?" Ruby asked from her bunk, already dressed to impress and clearly seemed a little off with how Yang was behaving right now. The top heavy fist fighter wasn't usually one to stay in from a party, but the little Red at least tried to understand here current situation.
"I... I think I'm going to sleep this one off. Sorry guys, I'm not feeling terribly well." She tried her hardest not to give herself away, but Ruby was already there, right up in her face, a horrified expression gazing at the blonde.
"But it isn't the same without you, sis! You gotta go!" Ruby pleaded, oblivious to the knocked out body of the ice cream.
"Blake can go for me! Right, Blake, buddy ol' pal?" Yang looked down at the faunus, forever reading her books, though she bit her lip softly as Ruby looked disappointed.
"Sure, I'll go there and be the best wall flower ever!" Blake sarcastically commented, as she closed her book and sighed audibly. "You owe me one, though. I did it for you..." Her feline eyes narrowed somewhat, looking back up at the blonde who looked rather sheepish for the moment. Luckily, Blake was already going to this party, so it wasn't much of an issue. After the events of the train, a party seemed like a good way to calm things down, though Yang couldn't risk it now.
"C'mon, it started like ten minutes ago!" Weiss was finally fed up, just about ready to leave by herself, though she really wouldn't considering her nature. She wanted to be the centre of attention, but sometimes, it just didn't do.
"Alrighty Yang, we'll be back later, alright? Stay safe." Ruby narrowed her silver gaze at her sister, who promptly grinned and gave a thumbs up, watching the three leave before finally sighing. This would give her at least a few hours in which to wake up the half-brunette, and try to get her to explain why she was here at Beacon.
Uncovering the sleeping woman, Yang looked her over, hoping that she wasn't in as bad a shape as she thought she was. A hate filled punch like that could kill a person, and the blonde didn't really fancy being a murderer before she was graduated from Beacon. Soon, she noticed that Neo was whimpering, albeit faintly due to her voice, and just as she would with Ruby, she stroked her cheek and her hair, trying to make the nightmare go away. Whatever feelings she felt now, she wasn't too sure, but she couldn't let anyone at all deal with such things, not after her earlier experiences in life.
Slowly but surely, the ice cream's eyes fluttered open, the blurry vision from her blackened eye not helping as she saw the banana tones of Yang's hair. She reached out toward it, thinking it was just a part of the nightmare she was having, but when she saw her hand grasped by the blonde's and not the terrifying Grimm, Neo gulped and then let out a sigh of relief. "Hey, uh, how are you feeling? Ah, bad question, but... I just want to say sorry for what I did earlier. I let my anger get the better of me, and well, you didn't deserve that." Neo thought otherwise, but she wasn't in the position to argue. Instead, she sat herself up slowly, feeling the throb of her temple and face.
"Although, you did really piss me off on that train, and... sometimes, I just have a bad time letting things go. Say, what's happened to your eyes? Can you tell me? I don't like whatever trick you played on me back then, but, gray makes you look sad," Yang asked, though upon getting no response from the almost mute woman, she sighed. "And, yeah, you can't talk, can you?" Neo shook her head at Yang's words, before she moved herself closer to the blonde's ear, not before making sure it was okay.
"My voice, it is just... too soft to use for every day speech. I'd be better with texting, or holding up a sign." Neo responded, placing her arms loosely on the fighter's shoulders, causing her to be a little cautious. "My eyes are gray because my other side is finally not controlling me. it is what you faced in the train, that terrifying thing..." For now, Yang was genuinely taken aback, though she frowned a little.
"What are the odds of this... Other side surfacing right now?" A valid question if any, and one Neo needed to answer. The half-brunette paused for a moment, considering what she could really say, but given her track record, she couldn't really tell a lie now.
"About 50/50, I'm afraid. Although, when I'm in pain, it seems less likely... sorry I can't guarantee it." Neo huffed near Yang's ear, causing the blonde to glance away with a small huff of her own. Granted, earlier in the day she had the intent of killing this short woman, but now she felt bad about her actions. Was Neo really out to kill her, or perhaps, were strings being pulled to cause this? Yang truly needed to know, but she couldn't find a way to that information right now.
"It's alright, I guess. I just don't want you to suddenly flip out on me or anything. We've had our differences, but you're not too bad when it comes down to it. I just hope that not being in that other side had caused you too much pain, ah, I hate seeing people in pain, from stuff like this." The blonde gently placed her hand on Neo's sore knee, causing the half-brunette lightly groan. Such a delicate touch hurt, she could only imagine what a strike to it would do.
The short woman backed away from Yang, sighing silently as she looked at her with those grayed-out eyes, causing the blonde to feel a little bit sorry for her. Whatever had happened to warrant this, it made her feel sick in the stomach for the most part. Despite her anger and frustration earlier, Yang definitely preferred to face her opponents at full power, not in a state which would leave them vulnerable to those without substantial auras.
Several minutes of silence passed, as Yang decided to write the last bit of an essay about why the Grimm were so drawn to the negative emotions of people, all while Neo watched over her working. It was weird, the way things were going, the fighter felt as though she had another Ruby sitting by here watching... Though as she glanced back and saw the gray eyes of Neo, she definitely thought otherwise.
Neo was acting a little strange though, her eyes closed, sitting up as though ready to stand up and attack something. Inside of her head, a battle was waged, a fight for control which no one but her could decide the outcome. She was almost certain that her other side would come out, though it would be a little while yet before that truly happened. For now, all she needed to do, was stay calm, focused and she would get through this night without incident. Of course, however, things usually didn't go to plan for the short woman.
As though suddenly passing out, she began to have a flashback to a moment in the past, something both important and unforgivable.
•-•
'"Neo, I told you very specifically, to take out the blonde. Did I not tell you that?" Cinder circled around the shorter girl, who looked as though she had taken a rough beating already. "Or, are your skills just not adequate enough to do the job?" Neo glanced up, her eyes wide open with a mixture of pain and anger, before she sat herself upright.
"I already told you before, I was interrupted by one of your old friends. You can't just pin the failure on my inability to-" Cinder's eyes lit up, before kicked the short woman in the chest, winding her almost instantly, and causing her to fall onto her back.
"Silence. Maybe, if you didn't play around with your prey so much, you'd actually get shit done. But no. You chose to be your usual self. This isn't the first time Neo, but this will be the last." Her hand began glowing in a crimson shade, evidence which the half-brunette had seen before indicating that she was about to die. However, before that final blow could connect, someone walked into the rather dreary room, someone who almost always had Neo's back.
"Cinder, Cinder, Cinder... Look, I know you are my boss, but could you PLEASE, pretty please, not permanently disable my merchandise," Something endearing, coming from the dapper lad himself. "If you really need her to take some punishment for this, just break a leg or something. No need to kill. She's still useful, ain't you cupcake?" Roman looked toward the short woman, who nodded in his general direction. The boss herself sighed, letting her anger lessen, though soon afterward she threw the charged fireball into the wall, leaving a rather nasty scorch mark upon the metal. Cinder wasn't to be messed with, especially when she was angry.
After that scary episode, Neo was taken by Roman into his own office, a place of luxury and comfort. He was welcoming to the little ice cream at least, but her beatings and failures weren't going to earn her any good points in this organisation. "Neo, Neo, Neo... It's unfortunate that we meet under these circumstances but you leave me no choice. As my subordinate, I'm expecting you to aspire to be as good as me at the jobs we do, but considering your recent failures... It makes a man wonder. Are you really committed to the White Fang, or are your eyes elsewhere?" His question was tough to answer, not due to the answer itself, but the implications of it. If Neo took a wrong turn, she might very well see herself dead on this day.
"... Roman, I, they're elsewhere." She whispered, looking down in absolute shame. For the moment, her eyes were a silver colour - the difference being that she could not escape in such a sorry state, not in this 'guise' anyways. "That blonde Cinder sent me to kill? It's her. I have to... Make sure she's alright. I hope you understand."
"Well, now isn't this just interesting. You'd think to betray me - the only person in this disheveled mess who actually gives a damn about you personally - for someone who is clearly the enemy? I'm not sure what has gotten into you, Little Ice Cream, but it ends now." Roman walked over, crouching before the short woman while he held his beloved cane.
"No." Neo responded defiantly, her gaze picking up to look at the redhead, whose face suddenly changed expression. He was surprised by her defiance, but he did not expect it at all. For the last ten years she had been so loyal to him, it made him wonder why she had a change of heart.
"Never took you to be a traitor, Neo. How about I go and tell Cinder, I bet she'd like to have a word with you- but you know I'm not that evil, or bad. I trust you, like a father would his daughter. You might not be mine, but... I consider you one." Taken aback, the short woman leaned herself forward, allowing the criminal mastermind to hug her gently. "That being said, I can't be there for you all of the time. Maybe once or twice, here or there, but never all the time. You're on your own as soon as you get out of here."
"But-" Neo began to protest, but Roman covered her mouth, shaking his head.
"Maybe there's a reason why you'd think so fondly of the blonde girl, but, I just want you to know that you'll be hunted down, for all you know and your connections. You won't be safe. Are you willing to take that risk, Neo?" His gaze narrowed, a sinister air filling the office while he pulled away from the short embrace.
"... Yes. I must." Her answer was simple, though it held so much more meaning than Roman took it to take. With a sigh and a shrug, he pressed a button underneath his desk, which opened up the large Scroll which made up the wall behind his beloved chair.
"You'll find a way out through here, alright? Just know that-"
The door was suddenly blasted open, jets of flame visible in the aftermath. Cinder walked through the hole she had created, already knowing what Roman intended to do. "Well, isn't this rude?" He commented, but he swiftly took a slap to the jaw, sending him into the wall nearby. The burning hues of the woman locked onto the beaten up woman, who promptly stood herself up and broke out of the shackles she had around her hands.
"Little girl, I didn't say you could avoid your punishment. And you, Torchwick; I'll have a word with you later." Cinder turned her attention back to the little ice cream, before she set her hands on fire in anger and began throwing fiery punches. Naturally, Neo snapped back into her other side, the kind which could deal with even Cinder, but not for too long. Her weakened body was screaming in agony, but she couldn't falter now. If she could kill this woman now, then maybe Roman could get out of here as well as herself, and they can begin a new life. Unfortunately, though Neo was adept at dodging strikes, the glass shattered and a terrifying kick slammed into her leg, breaking it upon impact, causing her to scream as loudly as she had in her entire life.
This was what prompted Roman to get himself up, firing his cane at the pissed off woman. He knew he wasn't any match for her, but if Neo could get into that Scroll, she would be safe.
"Neo! Hurry! Get into the Scroll!" He shouted, barely blocking a strike from Cinder. "I'll find you!" Neo crawled, her vision blurred from the sheer pain of her situation, and as she got to the scroll, she saw Roman one last time. Of course, her barely conscious brain couldn't pick it up, though...
The redhead was blasted in the chest, killing him in that moment.
Neo might have weeped within the Scroll, but she passed out soon after entering it.
•-•
As Neo returned to the present day, her head throbbing lightly, she suddenly noticed that there was an extra person in the room, yellow eyes with a piercing gaze locked onto her small frame.
"Yang... What is she doing here?" Blake looked between the blonde and the half-brunette, trying to figure out what was going on.
"Listen, Blake, I can explain..." Yang showed her hands, though the Faunus wasn't having any of it. A streak of jealousy took her expression as she leaped toward Neo, only to collide with Yang who knocked them both onto the ground. "Blake! God damn you! I said I would explain!"
"Explain what? Harbouring one of the enemy in our dorm? Spending time with her and missing that excuse for a party?! I only went for you, but it seems you didn't really appreciate it." Her words dug deep into Yang's mind, though the blonde stood herself up, holding her hand for the ravenette to get herself to her feet.
"I'll... I'll explain everything." The fighter spoke in a soft, sincere voice, as the faunus awaited that which might break her heart.