Impact phase:

End of vol 3

I would call it stunned silence.

See now. There are things in life for certain. Like the sinking of day into night. Like the pride of the changing seasons. Like the feathers fall of pure drifting snow. Is it too hard to imagine what could be witnessed outside her window? The browned leaf can only but not fall helplessly from it's perch. Trying to defy the wrath of winter's approach. Trying to defy certainty. Oh how open wide the wound must seep. Knowing deep that everything that she once knew to be true has come to a bitter end. The leaf laid bare in the soft white matter, abandonded by the life it once clung to. Brown tatters on the ground. Red hair and hood moving towards the distance. Black splutter of feathers of the bird as it took off into the cold winds. That sickly feeling arrived back at her feet. She closed her eyes and just like the decaying leaf from the tree, she felt abandonded. Felt alone once more.

Post vol 3

Fresh air blustered its way through the open window, pales of sunlight beaming through. Finally winter had left, marching off into the distance as Spring cautiously reared it's head. The face of fresh new beginnings. The butterfly fluttered in agreement, happily dancing into the front room to the song of the morning light, it's wings golden glow only matched by the hair of the girl sat on the sofa staring straight ahead.

Yang Xiao Long was sat...no was that her name? She had that name once. The name belonging to a girl full of life and espirit. That same girl now had the face of decay, the face of shun; stone dead carcusses in a dry desert showed more life. The name she once had should belong to this girl. She is beautiful. She is fun. She is carefree. However to her what is such teenage purity and beauty if it cannot be shared with the one you love..

With the dead silence kept comatose by the slow ticking of the house clock, she began to show vital signs by moving her head over to the arm of the couch. A set of books stacked upon one another, that somehow managed to make their way back with what little belongings they had from Beacon. A cloudy storm brewed in her eyes when she looked at them. Opening fresh wounds seemed to be quite the new hobby of hers. It didn't help but realise who those books belonged to. As painful as it is to see them, she yearned to keep them close by. As long as she could see the books she could function as a normal human being, even if they were out of arms reach..

Irony has a way of playing cruel jokes at the most inappropriate times. Time for her to find a distraction. With her only hand left, she tracked her remote and turned on the news. A medium she could cope with, sacrin streams of sound without her having to care about what was being said. Small talk over Beacon CCT towers? Been there. Vale council discussing appropriate means of evacuation? Done that. Every flick of the switch made it easier to slip into a hazy nap. A lazy day infront of the tv? Got the shirt. Was there nothing of interest on this channe-

"Multiple rumours continue to circulate as to who was behind the attack at the Vytal festival tournament..."

Suddenly that nap was coming closer to becoming a living nightmare as she peered into the image on the screen.

"Adam Taurus present for the attack."

If her eyes could brew a storm then now was the aftermath of the hurricane. Paralysed. Despite what she could feel underneath, her outter self remained the same lifeless shell it had become. She couldn't summon the energy to express anger. Express rage. To even cry. The monster was nothing more than a small array of pixels across the room from her. She looked down in relief. The storm was beginning to reign over her now. Closing in.

"I'm home!"

The door opened wide. The sunlight burst through, the girl's shadow slowly leaning back with her as she looked up at the voice coming through.

"Hey Dad".

The words barely made their way through the air. Her father seemed to not pay too much attention. Too busy juggling several packages in his arms, in rapture over one of them in particular.

"Guess what came in today..!" he said.

Taiyang Xiao Long was the father to this troubled teen. He heard her daughter's curiosity and happily set down the packages in the kitchen. His daughter seemed less than inquisitive though. She only wanted to humour his attempts at rallying her joy. The joy in his face however was a different story. He carefully balanced a package in both hands as he brought it over to the table in front of her. If emotions could lick their lips, his would. He looked down at his girl as she gave him a bewildered glance.

"For me?" she asked.

"For you and you only." he smiled.

Upon hearing those words, she shifted her gaze down to her sleeve and then towards the box. She wondered if she could force a less robotic expression. Taking off the lid brought the suspicions into reality. There it lay. Shiny brand new atlas tech. The battle metal sheen glossed over it's frame. She heard pulled strings and favours mentioned. Her eyes felt dry and scrunched in. Apparenltly she "earned" this all on her own. It felt like vomit on a canvass, waiting to shoot up her throat. Could she stop and say a word?

"Huh?"

"General Ironwood wanted me to tell you that you faught admirably. You should be proud of yourself kiddo."

Taiyang could see the look of gray left in her eyes. The colour that he saw when she woke up from Beacon. The same shade still perferated her eyes now as it did then.

"Well? Wanna try it o-"

"I'm not feeling too great right now.." her words spewed forward as she knew her what her Dad was trying to do for her.

"Maybe later? I want to rest up in my room for a bit."

She didn't want it. She didn't want the fuss. She didn't want the hassle but there was something she did want. Her eyes caught the glimpse. As she got up and moved off the sofa she checked the supplies he had brought home. In one hand she raised up a six pack of Vale beer. Well I suppose there is something that can keep her company.

"Thanks for getting these for me..Dad." she said.

"No problem kiddo." he smiled softly.

She slowly made her way to the stairs before glancing back at him.

"I'll be in my room."

With her final words to him she slowly disappeared up the stairs out of sight. Taiyang sighed softly to himself. To him it was going to take quite a while to get her little sun dragon back.

It was time. Time to kick them back and watch her pain slowly turn to mushed vision and fuzzy sounds. She took a sluggish sip of the first can. Can she see nothing but salvation from the bottom of alcohol? It felt refreshing. She opened the window. The sunlight from outside brough her the vision of a Spring afternoon as the clock shifted past noon. The grass was stained with lime colour and the trees laced with honeydew melon. She took a second swig. The sights made the beer taste of the freedom of the trees. The freedom of flying through them like a bird. Landing with a combat roll.

She took her third drink. The sounds of the can crumping reminding her of the metal sheen clinking into the back of that Ursas back. Overdoing it struck again as she spluttered back some of her beer. Drinking too fast. She looked down at the amber droplets on her skin, those amber orbs staring back at her with a soft smile.

Even the most dried up wells can have the tiniest pitter patters of sweet water left. She couldn't help it. She tried her hardest but it was too late for her. The thin streams of water trickled down her cheek like eyes rain. Like a chugging train she felt her stomach clench inwards and inwards. No amount of this liquid can fill this hole so deep. A hole left in the wake of being left behind.

The girl only wished her destiny could be like that of any other. Meet the person of your dreams. Fall in love and be with them forever.

What did she deserve to meet only two of those requirements?

What could she do to never be left alone again..?

tbc