Death never came.
She had seen too many times Da's Semblance flames at work, a vicious and unforgiving power that could scorch even the toughest substances into mere ashes. This wasn't even the first time Yang had to brave through the terrifying flames either, when her Da had wanted to train her endurance on quite literally set his poor daughter on fire. At the time, even though Da was holding back a huge majority of his strength, the slightest brush against a spark of those dancing flames was enough to cause immeasurable agony, and this time she was completely overwhelmed with not the slightest bit of Aura left to protect her. She expected to feel the same agony, except a million times worse and it scorching every inch of her body until she was burned into nothingness.
But still there was no pain, and for a moment Yang wondered briefly if she had perished so quickly that she didn't feel it in time – that would be best worst case scenario. But since she could still feel her arms and feet, her weary lungs and sweaty neck, the blonde thought that maybe, just maybe, she had miraculously survived. Gingerly she opened her eyes, peeking through her guard to see exactly what saved her from certain death.
"Are you done cowering yet? We have a Demon to kill."
It was a childish voice. It was also a calm, collected tone laced with the springiness of youth. Shades of crimson petals fell unnaturally slow towards the ground as if they were resisting gravity, and before her eyes was a very familiar red cloak fluttering gently in the air, and half a cheek inclined towards her with strong silver eye that shone brilliantly even in the deep darkness. Yang whispered softly, barely able to believe that she wasn't looking at a mirage, "I thought you went away. I thought… I thought you had something to do."
"I do. I told you, didn't I? My duty is to slay Demons," Ruby Rose gave her a thin smile before turning back to glare contemptuously at the enemy, "I felt this one's malice a full mile away from the city, so it took me some time to rush back. What happened to Master Taiyang?"
Yang swallowed some saliva down her dry throat, and looked towards her father. The Demon watched them but did not attack, looking incredibly wary of this strange little human who had dissipated its deadly flames with a single swipe. Knowing they probably didn't have much time, Yang gave Ruby a slightly fuller version of the summary she told Ren. Understandably, Ruby's frown only grew deeper and deeper until she spat out a very un-childlike curse at the end of the story. Yang barely managed to hold back her laughter, even though Ruby was unlikely to notice with her attention fully settled on the Demon,
"So I can't kill that thing because it's just going to possess someone else. I can't destroy its core either because it's apparently invulnerable to everything except your Semblance. The one thing I have that might've worked against it..." Ruby plucked out small hexagonal object shining a brilliant white light, and watched it grew dim abruptly before crumbling into dust, "Well, guess I should stock up more Fusion Dust in the future. These bastards never make it easy, do they?"
"This is my first time dealing with a Demon, but if I have to venture a guess, no." Yang stood up and patted away the dust from her clothes. These were the least of her problems right now, but she needed the routine to keep her head in check. As for Ren… she ran towards her companion and felt his neck. To her utmost relief there was a faint but rhythmic pulse underneath her finger, and as she quickly hid him behind a rock, "Anyway, we need to destroy the core. Think you can boost me up there?"
The young Executioner's face turned expressionless and cool, "Sure thing, but why can't you get up there yourself?"
Yang opened her arms with a sarcastic shrug, "Oh let's see. I broke my fist, I'm sore all over the place, I nearly got annihilated by a point blank explosion and I'm completely drained of Aura. Which pick do you prefer?"
"Then how can you destroy the core then if you're this exhausted? I won't be surprised if it has a self-defense mechanism too. Do you think you can handle it the way you are?"
"Uh – well maybe not, but –" Yang looked taken aback by her incredibly cold demeanor, but what Ruby said later caught her completely off guard, "In that case I don't see the need to waste my energy or expose myself to the Demon. Worst case scenario you're gonna fall to your death before you even reach that statue, and I'll be too distracted trying to save you before getting killed myself. No, I have a better plan. I'll kill the Demon right now and force it to possess a more manageable body. That will make out jobs far easier."
"Wh –" Before Yang realized it she was grabbing Ruby by the collar before exploding, "How can you say that!? That's my Da, and we're going to save him no matter what!"
But the Ruby before her was like a completely different person. The brunette slapped her wrist away harshly – once again shocking Yang into silence – before speaking in a cold and unfeeling tone, "For every second we waste we tread closer towards destruction, although to be frank I don't really care happens to other people. I'm here just to kill a Demon, and while I do owe Master Taiyang a great debt, I'm sure that death will be far preferable than to have his soul manipulated by a monster."
"Why you insufferable little – !" Abruptly Yang found herself flying backwards before crashing painfully into the sharp edge of a wall, and as she wheezed breathlessly on the ground Ruby once again spoke up,
"Just so we're clear, Yang Xiao Long. My life's purpose is to eliminate every single Demon that ever existed from Remnant, and I will do anything to see it happen. That means not following a suicidal plan that will get me killed before I see the end of my goal. Therefore I will kill your Demon possessed father. Then I will imprison the next host it tries to possess, although depending on how much time we have left I may have to kill all its hosts until the core is destroyed. It is cruel, but it is something that has to be done.
In the mean time you will recuperate your strength, and I will protect you until you're fit to fight. Then I will find an opening to boost you up there and cover you until you destroy the core. In the worst case scenario, if you fail or die before the objective is complete, then I will leave a message for The Order to clean up the mess. It will expose me, but it is an acceptable trade for this ancient Demon's death," the possessed Taiyang finally looked to make a move and sauntered slowly towards Ruby,
"I believe that's the gist of it. Now go and hide with Ren. Of course, you're free to ignore me and do whatever you want, but for every second you dawdle more people are going to die. One or many? It's your choice."
Abruptly, the red-plated rifle in Ruby Rose's hands underwent a bizarre transformation. The tail of the weapon ejected with a hiss and snap to form a thin black handle, and the frontal head ejected unfolded and swung outwards to reveal two closely intertwined circular blades of rose red, black-trimmed frame. Even in her daze Yang could make it out to be the first and biggest war scythe she has ever seen, and it easily doubled Ruby's height in length and likely thrice as heavy. That wasn't all there's to it either – the once compact center of the gun revealed itself to be the gun barrel of a high caliber sniper rifle. This was the true form of Crescent Rose. This was the magnificent murder weapon Ruby chose to reveal for the sole purpose of slaying the greatest Grimm. With practiced ease, Ruby Rose swung the sniper-scythe around in a warm up twirl before slamming the tip of her blades deep into the ground, just as the Demon has finished healing and set its jet black eyes onto her, contempt and hatred burning within. Ruby sneered equally in return, and readied herself for a thunderous charge.
Then, she felt a strong hand grabbed tightly onto her shoulders.
"No."
Eight years ago, Yang Xiao Long had a friend.
At the time Ren and Nora had miraculously gotten along with each other, and since then the wild, mischievous girl found it increasingly hard to play a prank on either child. Not only do they always hanged around each other, the bizarre duo also seemed to have developed a sixth sense that even if she managed to separate them to 'divide and conquer', the other partner would always rush in far too quickly for her to capitalize on it. Also… there was that accident. It made her very hesitant to try anything even remotely dangerous, and every time she tried to play a prank on the duo she'd inevitably remember the accident and felt really bad. Eventually she decided to give up on the duo, and decided that she would find someone more 'competent' who could suffer through her prank's consequences safely. If a prank's not harmful, then no matter how dangerous it gets it's just fun, right?
Yes, at the age of nine little Yang was quite the rebellious devil queen, and not even her parents could do much about it. So it was on a day of infinite boredom Yang decided that enough was enough, and that she absolutely needed to make a new friend to do devious things with. Armed with impure desires the cheery girl easily slipped past the guards and went out to the busy streets of Jiu Xu to scout out her prey. She had chosen to wear a tomboyish outfit of a short black pants, simple white T-shirt and yellow leather jacket for the occasion. A cap was handy when she needed to escape for whatever reason just because her golden hair was so obvious, but the mere thought of damaging her precious locks was enough to offset the idea. If you can't outrun them, beating them up was always an option. Even at her young age, her skills and Aura were already strong enough to take down anyone except an actual Huntsmen, and there was of course no threat of Grimm inside a city.
As little Yang walked aimlessly amidst the crowd, the young girl scanned the busy flow of people with childlike curiosity. It was a Saturday afternoon, so as expected there was an incredible amount of people going about for a good lunch or cheer or both. Both the common and the wealthy ran thick on the cobblestone, with an unending stream of vehicles lining up on both ways of the streets traveling slower than a snail. Little Yang never quite understood the point of cars – she would rather take one of Da's kick as a mode of travel than be bored to death in those metal coffins. Hawkers were yelling, customers were bargaining furiously, and pedestrians crossed the streets with equal fucks given to both drivers and the road safety laws, which is to say none at all. She hid behind a dustbin and peeked into the back alleys and voila! There a bunch of her men smoking and doing god-knows-what amidst the shadows. Yep, these were the streets she came to know everyday alright.
As little Yang looked around, something suddenly caught her attention like a hook. She was a fragile-looking girl about the same age with dark smooth hair, and she wore a sleeveless, one piece dress of pure white color reaching down to the knees. Her bunny sandals looked especially cute. When the mysterious girl finally noticed her stare, little Yang was stunned by the most brilliant golden eyes she had ever seen.
"Sunflowers," The blonde whispered as she took a step towards the beautiful girl, and then another. Then, the young girl's abruptly swung her head to look left and right before running with unbelievable speed into the thick, endless swarm of people.
… Wait a minute. What the hell? It took little Yang a full second before she finally regained her wits, and when she did the blonde found herself running right after the escaping girl's back. Little Yang felt an unknown joy blooming from inside her heart, and with every wind in her lungs she screamed loud enough to burst an entire crowd of eardrums, "You there! Stop! Don't you dare run away from me!"
As the curses and explosions and frantic curses of complete innocents began, somewhere, someone sneezed repeatedly in his private studies and wondered what kind of trouble his daughter had gotten into again.
"Hah, hah, hah, hah…!"
"Ha…! Ha…!"
The mad game of chase went on for a full hour, and during that entire length of time little Yang had smashed through five cars, crashed through tens of glass windows, and generally wrecked enough havoc to warrant an unearthly screech from both the community and a certain poor father's wallet. Though of course little Yang could care less about them at the moment and was focused entirely on this fascinating young girl who had somehow managed to outpace her for the entire length of an hour. In fact, if it wasn't for her familiarity with the streets and near infinite endurance, she would have lost the girl a long time ago.
And so that was how the two girls came to be at this little playground, wheezing in and out precious oxygen with little Yang clenching an iron hold onto her escapee's wrist and the latter pulling in a futile attempt to escape.
"You're… pretty good, girl! That's… the first time anyone… can outrun me so… long!" little Yang wheezed.
"What do you want?" The girl rushed out the words before gasping for breath, "Please…! I have no… money! Nothing!"
"Wha?" little Yang cocked her head questioningly, "Why the hell would I want your cash?"
"Huh? But then why… are you… chasing…?" the girl looked at her with eyes filled with confusion.
"Eh, that's because I want you to be my new vi – I mean, friend!" little Yang laughed out loud, "Your eyes are real pretty, so I want to talk to you! Or at least I tried to, until you ran away like some rabbit – speaking of which, why did you?"
"That's – that's because you look like you're going to… eat +me or something," the timid girl suddenly broke into tears, "Your eyes are all red and it looks so scary!"
Oh. Oops. Her father had told the blonde girl repeatedly to keep her Semblance under control in public, but little Yang was still too young to understand the consequences or the need for restraint, so whenever she got excited her eyes would easily color over to burning red. But hey, at least her hair wasn't on fire, right? Right! Now then, what should she do before this kid flooded this whole place with her tears?
"Who said my eyes were red, huh? They're violet! Light purple, see?" little Yang said innocently while emphasizing them with rapid blinking, "Are you sure you aren't seeing things? I'm not scary, and I'm really, really hurt that you would say that!"
"Of course they're – huh? But – but I'm sure they're red! How did you…?" The young girl soon forgot crying completely and was staring right into little Yang's eyes with piercing curiosity. The blonde's breath became caught momentarily at her throat – the girl sure was one to talk, when her own pair of sunflowers held a charm that seemed to suck in the very soul. Deciding it was time to avert the topic, little Yang smacked both hands onto the girl's delicate shoulders, eliciting from her a satisfying squeak before saying, "Never mind the boring details! Anyway, what is your name, girl?"
"Uh…" she hesitated a little before saying, "Lily. My name's Lily… Lily Cypress."
"Huh. That's a fairly strange name; you from the outside?" Little Yang asked.
"Y – yeah. Outside. Somewhere to the… east," Hmm, she's twirling her hair unconsciously. Could mean a lie, but it wasn't something to be bothered about,
"Well, whatever. So, back to my friend request! Will you like to be my friend, Lily? I promise you it'll be a lot of fun!" little Yang grinned widely.
"Friends?" The girl stared at her with bafflement, "But why? I don't even know you!"
"Little princess, that is exactly why you make friends, because we don't know each other! Anyway, I needed someone to play pr – games with, and I choose you! So, waddaya think?" little Yang said smoothly.
"I… I don't know," the girl said uncertainly. Little Yang was somewhat surprised she didn't bring up her parents as an excuse – that happened ninety nine percent of the time when she asked any of her previous 'friends' out – but sensing that her victim was about to bite the bait, the blonde girl decided to ignore any potentially unfavorable response and just jump the gun. Without waiting for a response, little Yang pulled at Lily's arms before dragging her towards the playground, laughing,
"I knew you would accept! From today onwards we are friends, my dear friend! Now, let's go to the swing and do some bonding right away –"
"Wait, wait! I haven't said anything yet!" Lily frantically tried to pull away, but while she was fast Yang was strong as a baby elephant, "What's bonding? It sounds really weird! I don't even know your name!"
"Oh right! Silly me. The name's Yang, Yang Xiao Long! And don't you dare forget my name, or else –" Her iris burned red for a second, and Lily froze like a drenched puppy, "You might, ah, hallucinate something unpleasant. That's an adult word I just used eh? Eh? Anyway let's not waste anymore time and onwards! To the super rotating fans of death – I mean, the very, very normal swings!"
"What did you just say? I'm not good with swings; I get dizzy with swings very quickly so can we go somewhere else? Please –Noooooo!?"
Her pleading fell on deaf ears. Later, the playground would be plagued by haunted rumors, telling the tale of a cruel monster cackling with flames steaming out of its head and its poor captive screaming with unbridled terror, never to be saved unto the end of eternity. In reality, it was the exact opposite. On that day, even though Yang hadn't realized it yet, the cowardly girl would turn out to be her truest friend who supported her at the worst of times and gradually changed her for the better. Without her, the girl called Yang Xiao Long might have been defeated by a loneliness and fear she could not explain, and eventually became irreversibly bitter towards life.
"Yang… I don't think this is a good idea…"
Two years after the day they first met, Yang took her new friend to the Xiao Long residence. This was generally a frowned upon idea, because only a handful of proven outsiders were allowed to enter the Xiao Long mansion. Anyone who did this without proper permission from their superiors would be punished most severely.
On the other hand, Yang Xiao Long had a knack for ignoring the rules whenever convenient, so when she pulled the 11 years old girl by the hand to the front gate, she did so with complete disregard of either Lily's pleading gaze or the three guardsmen who immediately walked up to them, "Good morning, Miss Yang. And hello! Who is this cute little lady we have here?"
Understandably, the guards were not exactly the kindest-looking of people. In fact they were chosen not only for their experience but also how ugly and threatening they looked, although of course this particular requirement was kept under tight wraps. Upon seeing the terrifying-looking men the timid girl immediately hid behind Yang's back as the blonde replied cheerfully, "Hey guys! She's my friend Lily, and I'm taking her in for a tour around the place!"
The younger man of the group said hesitantly, "Miss, I'm afraid we can't allow that. No outsiders are allowed to enter unless given permission from the higher ups."
"Well, I'm my Da's daughter, aren't I? Are you saying that I don't have the permission to decide who gets to visit my own house?" she responded innocently with a sun-lit smile, but it was impossible not to see the devil's horn peeking out of its head. Lily winced in sympathy as the youngster grew incredibly flustered, and thankfully one of the older-looking guards sighed and stepped up to relieve him,
"Miss Yang, you know we don't want to do this – especially not with you, like seriously – but rules are rules, and while you're the Master's daughter we are not. He'll punish us very severely for breaking it."
"Like I care. Why don't you just die for me?" Yang said cheerfully as everyone literally turned to stone upon hearing the unbelievable words flying out from her mouth. Upon seeing their frozen visages, Yang sighed dramatically and said, "Oh c'mon, it was just a joke. So I can't bring a person into the house, I get it. However! You have to understand that this girl –" Abruptly Lily found herself lifted to the air by the waist, and she could not help but gave a terrified squeak, "– this thing here is my property. I own her, and I'm very sure I can bring things that I own into my own house. That ain't breaking the rule now, yeah?"
"I am not property! You let me down right now, Yang!"
"… Haah. Whatever you say, Miss. Go on." The trio surrendered without further resistance; it's not like they could ever change her mind anyway; only the Master and the Mistress could do that. As the gates swung inwards, the wild girl finally put Lily down before dragging her in with a wide grin on her face. Lily looked annoyed but couldn't hide a red tint on her cheeks, and as they trekked slowly towards the mansion on the center of the main pathway, Yang said cheerily,
"See? Told'cha everything's gonna be fine!"
"It is not fine, Yang. What if they really get punished?" For all her fragile looks Lily was surprisingly opinionated, and sometimes when pushed too far she would explode in righteous opinions that had her Yang apologizing profusely like a meek little mouse. Yang didn't mind it, and in fact she was delighted to see that her attempts to 'rehabilitate' the timid girl finally working,
"Eh, it's just a joke. They'll live through it. And it's not like my punishment is going to be any better than theirs; they should be thrilled Da never asks them to stand still and eat one of his punches."
"What do you mean?"
Yang said with unusual seriousness etched on her face, "My Da's very strong, you know. Once I did something really bad, and as punishment he had me stand at the center of the training ground before punching me ten streets across the sky. It was awesome."
"You're joking," Lily shook her head.
"Why would I joke about being hit? I'm being very serious. Dead serious."
"I don't believe you," Lily shook her head even harder, and Yang found herself just unable to resist another round of teasing. Her hold on Lily's wrist tightened, and the girl's eyes widened in fear about what's about to happen next.
"Hey Lily~ Guess what my Da does to intruders when they have the ah, fortune to stumble into him?"
Said girl's head was swinging fast enough to rival a fan's medium speed, "Don't wanna don't wanna don't wanna –"
Letting go of Lily's wrist, the blonde instead grabbed hold of the girl's cheeks and stopped her head in mid-swing (Please do not try this at home, or anywhere for the matter). The pleading, puppy expression only spurred Yang to tease Lily further as she whispered, "Da skinned them all. First, he would dump them into boiling water so that the skin would come off by its own. Pssahh! And then, one by one, starting from the fingers, he would peel –"
Suddenly, a new voice rang out, "– Master Taiyang is not that sort of person. Maybe he will fling an offender across the streets, but he would never torture an enemy. Stop scaring the poor girl, Xiao Long."
"Aah?" She hated it when people call her by her surname. Almost immediately Yang spun around to face the newcomer whom she only knew too well, as Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie walked up towards them. Even at this age the frowning boy was already a fan of the chang shan, a black traditional long shirt paired with white long pants stretching to the ankles. It had always been a subject of disdain for Yang as a person who preferred the latest fashion. On the other hand Nora dressed a lot more normal, although it was rare for strangers to notice her true gender with that tomboyish haircut, baggy T-shirt and short pants. That would change in about a year, but it was a story better told by a more suitable person.
It had been 2 years since that terrible accident, but Yang's relationship with Ren had remained as awkward as ever. The duo might live in the same home, but they were about as close as distant relatives, speaking to each other only when absolutely necessary. As of late their relationship unfortunately took a turn for the worse since Ren grew a lot more outspoken when he hit puberty, and Yang was never one to back down from an argument even if she knew she was in the wrong. Things would've turned ugly much earlier if Nora wasn't there to stop them, but because of that they too were never able to forget that terrible accident born from their conflict that ultimately cost her her voice. It was a lie that time would wash away all wounds. Seeing the mute girl waving excited hand gestures at her, Yang returned a stiff, fake smile and wondered if she was going to live under her guilt's shadow forever.
Lily was hiding behind Yang again, but had poked out her head in curiosity to watch the strange atmosphere that was brewing between the trio. Yang ignored her friend's antics and instead narrowed her eyes at the two partners, "It's just a little joke. Besides, she's my friend and that's none of your business anyway."
"Speaking from experience, I wouldn't say that I fully appreciate what it means to be your friend or the butt end of your jokes. Bullying, I think, is definitely not a friendly act," Lie Ren replied coolly.
"Mind your own fucking business, shithead!" Yang shouted right back with unrestrained impulse, "As if a killer like you have the right to say that!"
The moment she said that she knew she made a terrible mistake. In an instant the light in Ren's eyes darkened into a cold, murderous fury, and the young boy drew his brand new dual pistols from his sleeves to point it at Yang and seethed, "How dare you."
Yang took a step back with her hands raised while saying hesitantly, "Ren, calm down, I'm sorry, I didn't mean –"
A streak of green light brushed past her cheek, freezing the girl right at her tracks as she touched a hand to the skin and saw blood. Lily let out a short-pitched scream as her fingers tightened into painful claws around Yang's waist, and Nora immediately tried to force down the weapon with obvious alarm. However, the grudge seemed to have been brewing inside the young boy for far too long, as he lost all semblance of control and going so far as to push Nora violently to the ground, "Out of all the people you are the only one who don't deserve to say that. Draw your weapon, because if you don't I'm going to shoot you anyway like the dog you are."
Yang could not ignore the insult. In a heartbeat her violet burned red with anger, and without a word she activated her shotgun gauntlets immediately and was ready to dive right in to teach the motherfucker a lesson. At the last second though, Lily's grip on her waist suddenly increased tenfold as the girl pulled her back while screeching, "What the hell are you doing!? Stop it!"
"Move away, Lily," Yang said steely without the slightest hint of emotion in her tone. In her mind Ren was already a dead man, "If he wants a fight he's going to get it. This has been coming a long way anyway, so I'm going to settle this once and for all."
"This isn't right!" Lily hissed out rapidly, "I don't know what happened between you two, but killing each other is definitely not the right answer to this!"
"You don't know anything," Yang retorted as she tried to push past the girl, "Fuck off. This is between me and him."
"Too scared to fight, Xiao Long?" Lie Ren taunted with scornful eyes, "I always thought you are a big-mouthed coward anyway."
"Just keep talking, Ren," Yang said through gritted teeth as she finally dislodged the struggling girl and shoved her aside. Immediately the young boy tensed up with his guns trained right at her heart and face – Yang Xiao Long may be a bitch who deserved to die, but it was undeniable she was as strong as an ox, "I'm not just going to hurt you, I'm going to kill you, so you better make your last words are –"
"Would the two of you just shut the fuck UP!?"
The sudden outburst stunned the two combatants for just a fraction of a second, but it was enough time for Lily to squeeze right between them like a human shield. Before anyone could say a thing the young girl abruptly spun around to walked up towards Lie Ren with a face of pure, livid anger, "Lie Ren, is it? Good morning sir, and you are a massive, stupid, dickhead of a mother fucking idiot, you hear me?"
Yang snorted aloud at the completely unexpected outburst, and the young boy's eyes cooled into ice as he started to speak. But Lily cut him off right away like a streak of thunder, "No, you shut the hell up and look around you, you hotheaded numbskull. You aren't the only people around this area, and there are plenty of innocent people who might get hurt just because you couldn't hold in your stupid grudge!"
The young girl pointed a finger towards her left, and sure enough there were a whole bunch of servants and guards surrounding them, obviously frightened and unsettled by the horrible commotion. For a moment Lie Ren looked unsure, but he steeled himself again and retorted, "So? It's not like I can stop them from gathering. If they got hurt then it's their own fault."
"Oh really? Then I'm sure you won't mind if that girl of yours getting hurt then," Lily stated in the chilliest voice Yang ever heard from the girl, "She seems ready to stop you even if it means getting shot in the face. Do you want that?"
The boy's face flushed white as if he had only just remembered about Nora, and as he turned around he saw exactly what she meant. Nora's elbows and knees sported fresh bruises due to no other but himself, and her face had the deathly white look of an overstrained patient. Still she had pulled out her war hammer with shaky limbs, looking determined to intervene the second a fight erupted between Ren and Yang. His anger all but forgotten, Ren immediately rushed to Nora's side and supported her with his arms just in time before she lost balance and collapsed because of the extended weapon's weight. Ren turned back to glare at Yang once, then bowed his head, and just like that the deadly duel ended before it even started as Ren ushered Nora away.
By now Yang Xiao Long has already retracted her gauntlets as Lily turned around and strode wordlessly towards her. The blonde girl smiled as she small-clapped and said, "Damn, Lily, you sure got him good there! I never thought –"
She had perhaps seen the slap coming before Lily had even confronted Lie Ren. The revelation hadn't make the slap any less painful or shocking, and she certainly wasn't prepared to see the stream of tears pouring down her friend's cheeks with undisguised sadness and disappointment. The young girl stared directly into the shocked violet eyes, and whispered softly,
"You're right, Yang. I don't know anything. I'm just an outsider, and I absolutely have no rights to interfere with your family affairs. Still, I thought you'd be smarter than this. I thought you won't let your stupid pride get into your head. But you did, and I –"
For a long while the young girl simply stood there, mouth opening and closing as if trying to find the right words to describe the turmoil of emotions. In the end, she opted for some simple words, and ran away towards the distance. It was a nightmare that would keep Yang awake for many sleepless nights and haunt her in her worst dreams for the rest of her life.
"I'm disappointed. I thought you're better than this."
That was another pivotal turning point in Yang's life. While she would eventually make up with Lily, searching house after house for the missing girl until she finally found her; and even reconciled with Ren after she invited him to one of the most awkward sit-downs they ever had in their lives. But still Yang would never forget this day for as long as she lived.
It was a day when Yang Xiao Long learned a lesson in humility. It was the day she had known true shame and became a more thoughtful and caring human being.
"Lily? Are you okay?"
"Hmm? Ah, I'm all right, don't worry."
"Right, and I'm a skunk eating cannibal who couldn't be bothered to take a bath. Tell me: What's eating you?"
"… That's one h-hell of a metaphor, Yang."
"I can't believe you still stutter whenever you say a profanity. It makes it so fun to watch though when you explode on a stupid guy who thought you're innocent and cute."
"Yang!"
The fiery girl smirked, but did not hide away the clear concern and worry etched upon her features. It had been four years since they had become friends with each other, and the time they spent together were more precious than any kind of wealth in this world. There were days they spent laughing like a hyena at an exploded bar (well, okay, only Yang while the Lily sweated buckets of terror hoping they wouldn't get caught), there were days where they spent talking the whole day while doing nothing at all, there were even days where they cried together in sadness and misery, like the day when her mother passed away with a peaceful smile on her bed. After all this time, Yang simply could not even imagine a day spent without her best friend – her sister – by her side, living and braving tomorrow together with a smile on their faces.
Today was a bad day though. It's not as if she had never seen the young girl having mood swings; sometimes Lily could become so depressed that even Yang's funniest jokes could not cheer her up. This was apparently one of those days; if not the worst Yang had seen her so far. It did not help that Lily's eyes had a faraway, distant look in them that made her already fragile appearance look even more transient; as if she was going to disappear any second. What am I thinking? Of course that ain't gonna happen, Yang forcefully shook the dark thoughts away. At least she had an inkling as to what made her friend so unhappy – every time the golden-eyed girl came back from 'home' she always looked a little sad. It made Yang felt angry just thinking about it.
They now sat at the swings of a quiet old playground; the place where they first met each other while enjoying the caressing touch of the wind. Lily pushed herself back lightly while Yang did the opposite; unconsciously trying to match her friend's pace. After a long while Lily combed her hair while looking gloomily towards the sky. It was a sign that the girl was finally ready to speak.
"Yang… do you believe in miracles?"
"I do," Yang replied so quickly that earned it her friend's eyebrow. The blonde shrugged a shoulder and continued, "Can't be a daredevil if you don't pray now and then for something to get you through the harder times."
Lily gave her a half-scornful look, "Riiiight. Remember the countless times I had to save your ass? They're all just miracles from the gods, because of course they are!"
"You don't need to say it so sarcastically, geez, that was almost as bad as Ren," Yang winced, "And of course I'm thankful! Without you, I'd have gotten caught countless times already, not to mention a lousier person than I am now." So in a way of speaking, you are my miracle. She didn't say it aloud though; it was just way too embarrassing.
"Great to see you still have some gratitude in you," Lily smirked at the hasty response, and Yang muttered a grumble under her breath; she couldn't believe how the tables had turned since two years ago. It was understandable though. Her friend has grown so much as a person that she could scarcely recognized the cowardly little girl she first met on the streets.
Lily sighed as she hid her face behind her hair, "To be honest, Yang? I'm the one who should be thanking you. Without you by my side, I would never have been able to enjoy life as a normal girl. Would never have known what it means to be happy. Alone, I would've lost sight of myself and become something… less. You know what I mean. I'm sure you've noticed that I'm not exactly…normal."
"Nonsense," Yang replied, "I can't say the same for everyone I know, but I sure don't think there's anything wrong with you. You are as normal as a person can ever be."
Lily smiled, and placed a hand at her heart, "Thank you, Yang, but you know that's not what I meant. I…" she looked unsure. Hesitant. Lips and eyebrows tightened into a dark frown, "I want to tell you this. You've always been honest to me, and it's only right that I do the same. At first I was scared that it'll put you in danger, but I understand now that's it is just my cowardice speaking. You have to know now, there's no more time, and I…" the ramble made no sense whatsoever to the blonde, but what Lily said next pierced right through her heart, "I'm leaving today, Yang. I'm afraid that I'm never going to come back."
Yang felt as if a thick blanket had wrapped itself over her throat, "What?"
Lily ignored her and pushed on, "I'll start from the beginning. To begin with, I am not human – no longer one anyway. When I was just five years old, I died in a car accident."
"O… kay," Yang couldn't keep the incredulity away from her voice, "Lily, you know I trust you, but this is a little..."
"I am being very serious," Lily cut her off firmly with a tone of gravity that Yang had never heard before from her friend, "Yang, I was dead. It's surprising that the memories are so clear, but I remember sitting in a car with my family, talking about dinner as my dad drove us home through a mountain path. Something happened along the way, something bad – I never knew what it was – that caused the car to go out of control, and we crashed right down a canyon. Everyone died. I died. It was sad, but I should've just been another statistic in the morgue; end of story.
But then, something happened to me. It's hard to describe, because just how do you describe being dead anyway? One second I was nothing, and then the next I was suddenly aware that I was dragged against my will by something towards somewhere that felt completely and utterly wrong, but no matter how I struggled I just could not break free. There was light, I broke through the surface, and just like that I was back in the world of living again, breathing and heaving out the contents of my stomach like I had just swallowed the most disgusting shit in the world."
Lily stared towards the distance with a dazed look, and the blonde took care not to disturb her. The entire story felt fucking surreal of course; her friend who was supposed to be dead coming back to life and all, but she believed Lily, so she memorized every word she said like they're made of diamonds. It was the only thing she could do right now.
"When I regained enough of my senses, I saw a woman. Remember this, Yang. She had black hair curling down her breast, with strange lines tattooed on her body that burned with an eerie light. Fire burned within her eyes, and they glow a piercing yellow even amidst the darkest black. She is a predator, a monster. She is the one who revived me from death, Yang, and her name is Cinder Fall. Do not forget her name, but do not ever speak to anyone about this, or you will be in grave danger. If you run into her, run away as far as you can. Never fight her unless you have absolutely no choice, and lastly never trust her. Can you promise me this, Yang?"
Lily glared at Yang with such intensity that the blonde could only nod meekly, but truth be told, as compared to tales of an outlandish enemy she had never seen before, Yang was actually more distracted by Lily's eloquent, almost adult way of speech. Even though Yang has always thought herself to be the older one out of them both, but who was the mature, and who was the really immature? Had Lily simply been playing the fool and tolerated her all this long?
Her thoughts must have shown on her face, because Lily's eyes abruptly widened before she held Yang's hands and spoke softly, "Oh no. Oh, no. Our time together is genuine, Yang. I was never a sociable person even before I died, and after I revived an evil witch and her cronies aren't exactly the best people to converse with. Please believe me when I say that I never pretended to be anything else but myself when I'm with you."
"I'm not doubting you, Lily," Yang forced out a laugh in attempt to abate her friend's worries, "It's just that, I just realized that there's so many things I don't know about you, you know? Every time you go 'home' it's to meet that monster, isn't it? I just feel so… ashamed, I never even tried to check –"
Abruptly Yang found herself in a tight embrace and Lily shaking like a leaf, saying, "Yang, you and I both know that you didn't pry into my past because you care about my feelings. This is not your fault, it was never your fault. If it wasn't for you, I might have turned into a monster. I would have forgotten what it meant to be happy, what it meant to be truly alive. You are my friend – my one and only true friend, and that is the one thing that will never, ever change. Never."
"Me too, Lily. Me too," The blonde hugged her friend back tightly, and for some reason her eyes began to water, as if she knew deep down her heart that their time was now up. She refused to acknowledge it. But a bolt of thunder split the skies with a deafening roar, and Lily jerked away and hissed out with a ferocious look of anger Yang had never seen before, "Why is she here? It isn't time yet!"
"Who's she? What's going on?" Yang stood up from the swing and glanced warily at her surroundings. Something felt wrong; as if the home that she knew as well as the back of her hand was suddenly different. Even with the looming storm it was incredibly strange not to see a single soul anywhere that it was just half past six. Something was coming.
"We don't have much time left so I'll cut this short. I'm sorry, but I've stolen the Final Sun from the secret room. I'd imagine that Master Taiyang would be incredibly pissed right now."
"What? Wait a sec – you what?"
The Final Sun was an ancient relic as old as the very First Grimm War, and the artifact was said to be one of the few Dust constructs that played a critical role in pushing mankind towards victory against the terrifying Grimm. Nobody knew how the artifact worked now, even though all the leaders agreed that it must be protected from the Grimm at all costs, and Master Taiyang was apparently the chosen candidate to safeguard the relic. Not even Yang herself had seen the Final Sun before, the relic stored safely inside a twenty inch wide Dust-protected metal box and hidden in a secret room that could only be accessed through Master Taiyang's own bedroom. Not even an army could pry the artifact from Da's hands, much less any one person. But Lily claimed that she had stolen it, and Yang believed her, since she immediately recalled the set of skills Lily displayed to save their lives from a fatal trap. She just didn't know why she did it.
Out of nowhere, Lily pulled out a short pair of transparent, crystal-like blades and crossed them firmly towards the ground. Half a meter long and glowing vibrantly with white light, Yang would've felt a hint of admiration if she wasn't feeling so tensed by a sense of imminent dread that just kept piling at their direction. It had an eerie quality that made every hair on her skin stand like a porcupine's quill.
"I have no choice. Cinder, the witch I talked to you about, had originally planned to take it away by force right after Mistress Lia passed away. While Master Taiyang might be able to defeat her by himself, he was heartbroken at the time, and with her 2 other lesser cohorts they could kill him and take the relic for themselves. I managed to convince her to do things more discreetly and let me, the spy who knows the Xiao Long mansion inside out, steal it. I've been trying to delay the inevitable since, but today is the last straw."
Lily glanced down on the ground and said softly, "I'm sorry, Yang. Our meeting wasn't exactly a coincidence. Certainly I didn't expect to run into you that soon, but I… I was here that day to find a way to draw your attention. To gain your trust. To lie to you and –"
"Stuff it, Lily," Yang waved a careless hand and while concentrating on their surroundings, "Just tell me one simple thing: Am I your friend?"
"Of course you are! But I –"
"Then stuff it. I trust you, and I believe you're not spying on me out of your own free will. Just, what do you plan to do with the relic? Should I know where you've hidden it?"
"I don't plan to use it; I just moved it to a different location. They can't use what they can't find. If you ever have a need for it though, remember to search the place where no shadows are cast –"
"Ah… so here's where you've been hiding all day. I should've known that you're a traitor."
They looked towards a feminine shadow walking towards them from the right center of the street. Instantly Yang understood that this dark-skinned woman was the threat she was looking for; the evil bitch that was going to snatch Lily away to a terrible place. She was a thin, well-tanned woman with red eyes and an annoying smirk hanging off her face. Her hair is a light pea green cut with a straight fringe and bangs with two long locks flowing on each side. The woman also wore a rather revealing white and dark green outfit that revealed her midriff and the top part of her breast, but there was no one to admire it and certainly not the girls who looked paler for every step she took. By now the invisible pressure – she understood now that to be killing intent – was so powerful that Yang felt like she could puke out her lunch, breakfast and last night's dinner if there's any left in her stomach, but still she put on a brave face and stood protectively in front of Lily,
"Who the hell are you?"
The woman turned to look at Yang with that infuriating smile of hers, and the moment they matched eyes all the sudden the blonde girl felt as if the world was tumbling from underneath her feet. Before the strange sensation could continue to spiral out of control though, Yang felt a firm hand pulling her back from the shoulders that instantly broke the strange vertigo. Lily stepped forwards and raised a blade towards the strange woman,
"Why are you here, Emerald? This is not the time we've agreed on."
"And why should I keep a promise with a traitor? Granted, I would've done it anyway if only to see you get mad," Emerald touched a palm to the shoulder mockingly, before her face suddenly twisted into unbridled anger, "Know your place, you fucking corpse. How dare you break Cinder's trust?"
"Who the fuck are you calling a corpse?!" Yang leaped forwards in anger with fists already in mid-swing, but Lily pulled her right back with surprising strength before whispering, "Yang, get out of here now."
"What? No fucking way! C'mon, we can take her together –"
"Listen, Yang!" Lily tightened her grip on her arms, and Yang abruptly realized just how cold her friend was. She's terrified. But still her friend put on a brave face and said forcefully, "You have to go! I'm on equal footing with Emerald, and while she has a lot more combat experience than I do I can run very, very well, so you don't need to worry about me! No – listen, we can't win, and the last thing I want to see is Emerald using you as a hostage, or worse! So run!"
"I'm afraid you don't have a choice in the matter, little girls. I'm sure Cinder will like to have a very interesting chat with both of you."
The silky voice came from right beside Yang's left ear, and just as the blonde jerked away Lily immediately stabbed directly at Emerald's head, only to see the blade pass through nothing but thin air. A mirage, Yang thought to herself as she scrambled to regain her balance. She was about to fire a shot at the prancing snake, but once again Lily pushed her towards the streets and yelled,
"Yang, go home now! your Da would've had men scouring all over the place for me! No one will dare to attack the Xiao Long residence tonight!"
"Oh, I just love how you keep belittling my abilities," There was a crack of thunder, and the ground between Yang and Lily exploded in a sizzling flash of light and fire. Yang felt her face scrapped hard against asphalt, but she couldn't care less about her own injuries and quickly looked towards Lily's direction. Yang felt her heartbeat stop to see Lily's entire right hand burned as black as sin, as one of her blades clattered uselessly on the ground. Yang grounded her fist, stared hatefully at the smirking Emerald and charged towards the bitch despite Lily's desperate warnings. She was not going to back down until she punched the woman bloody –
Abruptly there was a brilliant flash of light, and both Yang and Emerald stopped in mid-stride to stare at Lily shining like an angel of light. Her friend said coldly, "You forget yourself, Emerald. I may be young and inexperienced, but I am the Cypress. I am death. Just try and take me lightly, and I'll make certain you won't live through this day."
For just a second hesitation staggered the enemy's movements, and Lily seized the moment to look directly into Yang's eyes. Suddenly the blonde found herself caught by a beam of light before her body became robbed of all freedom. No matter how she struggled she she could not move even a millimeter from her position, and Yang abruptly realized that it was the same trick Lily used when they're trapped at the warehouse, teleporting them away just before the gangsters were about to kill them. If she remembered correctly, she said it could only be used once a day –
"No," Yang whispered in horrific realization, "No, no, no! Don't do this, I'll run away now so save that spell for yourself, Lily –"
Her best friend smiled once and turned away. Yang could only scream futilely as the world eclipsed into utter darkness, and five long seconds later Yang found herself safe within the compounds of her home just outside her own room, with several servants looking scared out of their wits by her sudden appearance. She paid them no heed and crashed through the front gate, running faster than she ever had before towards the playground hoping that she wasn't too late, bearing the falling rain and shouting her best friend's name with every breath in her lungs.
But they were gone. Everywhere she looked there were black scorched grass, upturned soil. So much blood. The slides were split, the seesaw was burning, and even their favorite swing was left a mangled pile of scrap.
And she… she wasn't there. Not anymore, not ever for the rest of infinity.
"No."
The moment she felt the hand on her shoulder, Ruby Rose sighed on the inside and turned around. The girl understood that her ultimatum wasn't the most humane thing in the world, but sometimes sacrifices were necessary in order to eliminate the biggest threat towards mankind. If the blonde won't comply, then she had no choice but to make her.
So one could imagine Ruby's complete surprise when she felt a fist slamming her hard at the jaw, concussing her brain, and sending her skidding across the earth before sprawling on all fours on the ground. Not even her Master had ever punched her at the chin. Ruby climbed up dizzily with shock and anger riding through her veins like rampaging horses, but the moment she locked eyes with Yang, all notions of socking the blonde right back with her scythe fled away as if they were never there.
Yang Xiao Long was mad. She was very mad. Whenever the fighter drew out her Semblance her eyes would burn a distinct red, but this time there was a slight difference. This time, the blonde woman's eyes burned an angry crimson so deep that it was almost black, and her mere stare was enough to strike pure terror into Ruby's heart. Even the Demon looked hesitant to come close. Whereas her body had flared a gigantic pillar of flame an hour ago, her Semblance form was now curiously absent, but not gone. It was the opposite. Through her keen battle sense Ruby Rose realized with shock that the woman's fire was anything but depleted, and not only her Aura was at least ten times stronger than before, they're compacted so tightly within Yang's body that even the tiniest bit of energy felt like it would blow this cavern right through the roof. How is this possible? Ruby thought in disbelief, she was down to the last drop of her Aura, I'm sure of it! Even her capacity is completely different from a minute ago! Where is that strength coming from?
At what cost?
As Yang drew closer towards her, the young girl she couldn't help but shiver a little even with her vast battle experience against the unknown. Worse, her dizziness hadn't cleared nearly enough for her to even stand, so Ruby could only brace herself as she did her best to appear fearless to the blonde.
"Do you want to know why I hit you, Ruby?"
"…Because you cannot stand listening to pragmatism?" Ruby said sarcastically.
"No. It's because you're being a fucking asshole and you know it."
Whatever retort she thought up stopped dead at her throat when Yang Xiao Long hauled the girl by the collar and pulled her close enough to feel each other's breath,
"Let me tell you something, Ruby. I have lost someone I hold very dear in the past, and I believe you understand exactly what I mean. Do we get each other? Good, because I am sick of losing my loved ones, I am sick of being helpless, and I'll be fucking damned before I give up and let the same thing happen to my own Da! I will protect him even if I lose my life, you hear me!? I don't care who I have to fight, I don't care even if I have to go against the Creator himself, I won't lose anyone I love ever again!"
The girl held her breath, before letting out a slow sigh. Her eyes stared distantly at a faraway memory, a the back of a white cloak that she missed so much, "Yang… The world is no fairy tale," Ruby whispered softly, "You can't protect everything you hold dear. No one can."
"The world is no hell either," Yang let go abruptly, and the former Executioner fell painfully on her butt, "And as long as I keep trying, as long as I don't give up, I refuse to believe that I can't do something this simple. And this time, I can and I will. As for you –"
All the sudden Yang whizzed a ferocious kick directly towards Ruby's head, and the young girl instinctively swerved right only to see the blow miss incredibly wide – then hear a loud crack and howl ringing from directly behind her, "Get a hint already, you stupid Demon!"
It was then Ruby finally remembered that they still have a monster as audience, and she turned around just in time to see it reeling away in anger from the failed surprise attack. Ruby cursed herself inwardly for getting massively distracted and tried pulling herself onto her feet with Crescent Rose. To her surprise, Yang caught hold of her wrist firmly and pulled her gingerly to an upright position. The young girl stared at her warily and asked, "I suppose I should say thank you, unless you plan to hit me one more time?"
"As so as long we're clear on the subject, I won't. You are my big sis after all." Yang grinned a little before letting go of her hand.
Ruby ignored the woman, and swung her scythe around a couple of times until she finally felt reasonably comfortable with her balance, "Fine. Let's proceed with the plan."
"Oi." Instantly Yang's mood took a turn for the dark, but just before she could finish her growling Ruby raised an outward palm to stop the outburst and said,
"Let me finish. Now that you've recovered your Aura, I can fully concentrate on fighting instead of worrying about your safety. You can now destroy the core and defeat the Demon once and for all. You will still have to fend for yourself once you get up there, and I cannot guarantee one hundred percent that I can block all the projectile attacks it might send at your direction, but I will do my best to protect you."
"But you won't kill my Da?" Yang took a step closer, then another, "I'm not trying to be funny here, but if you won't promise me his life, I will turn this battle into a three way, even at the risk of prolonging this fight any further than it already was."
Ruby's eyes winked ice for a second, but the young girl gave a small sigh and said with an embarrassed scratch of the head, "Yes, of course, do I look that ungrateful of a person to you? He treated me dinner, you know."
Now that's more like the Ruby I know. Still, Yang laid down some extra ground rules in case Ruby tried to play funny, "No lethal attacks or aiming for vital parts. We have no idea how far we can push its self-regeneration."
"Seriously? I might as well leave a hand down his throat too so he won't starve!" Ruby complained aloud. Before Yang could supply any one of her 'witty' comments, she swung the blade of her scythe within an inch of the noisy woman's neck and instantly shutting her up.
"Grab onto Crescent Rose," Ruby commanded.
"Grab onto whaa?"
"My scythe. You wanted a boost, didn't you?" Ruby set her eyes steadily on the circling Demon, and judging from the sudden spike of power it was preparing to charge towards her. Scratch that, it's charging right now, "So grab onto Crescent Rose now, and keep your head away from the muzzle unless you want me to blow out your brain matter."
Yang squeaked as the sharp blade edged half an inch closer in eagerness. She quickly obliged and grabbed firmly onto the flat side of the scythe, "O-okay."
With a single breath, Ruby heaved with little difficulty her weapon and its passenger a feet above the air and squeezed the trigger. In an instant, Ruby Rose began spinning in sync with her scythe within a tight circle, and when Yang finally guessed her true intentions the young girl had fired more shots to magnify the motion. The Demon was temporarily slowed as all seven shots struck its abdomen with powerful knockback, and when she finally reached the peak of their momentum she swung out one last time and flung Yang directly at the statue's left eye. The young girl shouted just as the Demon barreled right into her defenses with a furious snarl, "Go!"
"Aww. And here I thought I could play the hero. Maybe I still can. Lose, Ruby – No wait that would be bad – almost lose, Ruby! You can do it!"
"Nora, I sincerely doubt that is a good thing, and Ruby Rose is an exceptional Huntress."
"Ew, spoilsport. So? Where are we going?"
"Up. I'd imagine that our men could use the help."
"Do they? I've already smashed about, let's see, a hundred thousand million idiots at the hall just now. Those crazy bastards think they can stop the invincible Vikingress! Hah!"
"… Nora."
"You should have seen me! They tried to force me down to the ground, but I pulled them off one by one and smash open their heads! And a one, and a two, and a –"
"Nora, you're on cleaning duty for the rest of the month. Alone."
"… Boo."