"...think she killed her own sister? I have a hard time believing that, especially with how close those two were."
Yang shot up into a seated position, then became dizzy. She rested her forehead in her hands for a few moments. Her head was swimming, and her body didn't feel much better.
"I don't want to believe it either, but there's no one else it could be!"
Yang blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the darkness. She placed her hands on the ground so she could push herself to her feet, but she slipped and fell back down. The ground was wet. She grumbled unhappily.
"You said you wanted to show her something in this room, right? What was it you found?"
Yang looked up at the only door in the room. There wasn't much light on the other side, but the cracks around the edge of the door let small amounts through. The voice outside... was that Glynda Goodwitch?
"Well, we're not really sure, but it looked like Ruby's cloak..."
Yang looked around, unable to see anything red in the low level light. She decided it was a lie that they were telling Glynda. There was nothing in the room that resembled Ruby's cloak... her hand brushed something made of cloth. It was soaked through, but she knew the feel of the material.
"What are we going to do about this, Ms. Goodwitch? We can't just let her get away with this!"
Yang shook her head. Was that Weiss' voice? What were they talking about out there? She shrugged it off, focusing on the potential hint to Ruby's whereabouts. She activated her aura just enough to cast a small light around the room, the flame sprouting from the palm of her hand.
"We certainly can't, but I need to be sure that she's guilty before we pass judgment."
By the light of her aura, Yang could see the cloak. It was mostly lumped in a pile, but she could tell it was Ruby's. She went to pick it up, but something else caught her eye. Her hand was red. Her eyes moved to the floor, widening when she realized that she hadn't been lying in water. The floor, the cloak, her hands, her clothes, her body, her hair... it was all soaked in blood.
"She wasn't underwater for very long, and yet she managed to find a body. I think she knew where to look. I'd bet that she's counting on people thinking that she would never hurt Ruby. That way we'll be looking for someone else while she is free to do whatever she wants behind our backs!"
Yang reached out again and grabbed the cloak, lifting it out of the corner. She could feel that there was something underneath it, and she knew it was something she didn't want to see. Looking around the cloak, her fears were confirmed. Sitting in the corner of the room, staring up at her through dead eyes, was the head that had been missing from the body in the pond.
"Let's hear her out first, alright?"
Yang turned her aura off, then reached out and grabbed the head by the hair and slowly lifted it. She held it up in front of her so that she could see the face as well as possible. After a few moments, she allowed herself a sigh of relief. It wasn't Ruby.
But then... where was Ruby?
The door opened, and Yang turned to face whoever was entering. She saw Ms. Goodwitch, backed by Weiss and Junko. All three froze when they saw her, as she was covered in blood and holding a disembodied head in her hand. She could tell in an instant what they were thinking. She could see it in their eyes... except Junko's. There was something else, but Yang couldn't place it.
One thing was certain. She had been framed, and she would never prove her innocence unless she escaped these three. She needed to act quickly.
Weiss managed to find her tongue first. "Yang... what is this?"
Yang looked down at the red cloak in her hand, then to the head in her other hand. She glanced back up at Weiss. "I don't know..." She couldn't lose the cloak, and she really didn't want to hold onto a head, so her next move seemed obvious. "Catch!"
She tossed the head at Glynda, who jumped back out of the room to avoid getting hit by the grisly object only to reach forward and catch it before it hit the ground for some reason Yang couldn't even guess. Regardless, Yang took the opportunity to dash through the door and down the hall. Weiss chased after her, calling her name, but Yang wasn't going to stop. She turned a corner, then another, hoping that she was heading in the right direction. The last thing she wanted was to get lost down here.
Sure enough, she found herself at the end of a hallway with nowhere to go other than back. She turned and ran back to the nearest turn, which thankfully had one other route she could take. She noticed a door not far down that hall, so she went to it and opened it. She stepped into the dark room and, not wanting to be followed, closed the door behind her.
She lit a small fire in the palm of her hand and held it over her head. The light revealed that this room was somewhat larger than the one she had been tricked into before. She checked the floor before venturing further in, letting herself breathe again when she didn't see blood.
There was a small archway that led to another room. Once Yang determined that the entrance room was empty, she moved into the next room. This one was larger and more rectangle-shaped. More than that, there were things strewn about the room, as well as a few old wooden tables. Two of the tables were set parallel to each other, while a third was set just behind them.
Upon closer inspection, these tables turned out to have straps on them for holding a person down, and she judged by the setup that the two captives beside each other would be unable to see the third. Upon even closer inspection, she regretted looking so close that she could see the fresh blood that had stained the wood on two of the tables. The separate table had some gruesome bits of neck left on it as well.
Yang thought it obvious what had happened in this room just recently. Someone, possibly more than one person, had been murdered. She was sure that she had already found the corpse of one person, but who it could have been eluded her. It wasn't Ruby, and right now that was all she cared about.
She looked down at the red cloak in her other hand, then realized something. If this was indeed Ruby's cloak, then whoever committed this heinous act also held Ruby captive. She was getting closer to the truth. Closer to rescuing her sister.
Her ears picked up the sound of water dripping. She was sure that sound had just started. There had been no dripping until just this moment. The sound suddenly disappeared again, followed by the rippling of water. Yang looked in the direction of the sound, shining the light from her flame toward it as well. She took a few steps forward and saw what appeared to be a small puddle of water. She could at least tell that it wasn't blood, which was always a relief even if the room was already the site of at least one terrible murder.
She stepped to the edge of the puddle and looked above it. There were no signs of any leaks, so she looked down. At any other angle it seemed like a shallow little puddle, but from directly over it she could see that it was deep enough for a person to hide in it. There was even a faint blue glow coming from somewhere at the bottom, revealing the entrance to an underwater tunnel.
"That leads to the pond outside. Go through it and wait for me in the forest. I'll be there just before sunrise."
Yang spun around and found herself face to face with Junko. At first, she couldn't think of anything to say, but words managed to slowly form in her head. "Do... do you know where Ruby is?"
Junko frowned and shook her head. "No, but I'm pretty sure she's not down there." She nodded to the not-puddle. "I don't have time to explain what I think is going on right now. Weiss and Ms. Goodwitch will be through that door any moment now, and if they know about that tunnel they'll probably freeze it solid to get you. I won't tell them you were here, but you have to go now."
Without any more time to think about it, Yang went to the water and only briefly glanced back to Junko. She nodded her thanks, the slid in as quietly as she could. She would never know if Junko was telling the truth about the others being right behind her.
The water was cold, but that was to be expected. As Yang plunged closer to the bottom, the light from the tunnel became more visible. It was still rather dark, but at least she would be able to navigate. She just hoped she would be able to reach the end before she could no longer hold her breath.
Ducking into the tunnel and pushing herself along, she began to notice shapes moving in the shadows ahead of her. Her mind started to wander, imagining all sorts of weird creatures that could be lurking down here. It wouldn't surprise her if she had to fight Grimm on top of everything else that had happened.
When she got closer she could identify four separate figures floating silently further down the tunnel. Her eyes widened and she almost gasped when she realized that these were people. She wanted out of here as soon as possible, so she pushed herself through the tunnel with all her strength.
Her foot caught on something, causing her to look down. She saw shattered fragments of weaponry. Among them was the familiar head of Magnhild and the twin Jade Dragons, Nora and Ren's weapons. Her eyes moved back up to the bodies floating in front of her, hoping she didn't know any of them.
One of the bodies had moved, prompting her to hope that someone was still alive. Whoever it was, they moved through the water in a thrashing manner. Their long hair floated all around them, obscuring whatever was behind them. They swam up to one of the other bodies, moving in close so that Yang couldn't make anything out. She started to swim toward them, hoping she would be able to help someone.
The long-haired figure turned sharply to look at her, it's eyes almost glowing from under the shadows covering it's face. Suddenly, it sped towards her. It was very definitely not Human, moving through the water like a shark. It reached forward and it's hands grew long claws. It opened it's mouth, revealing sharp fangs.
The creature was rewarded with Ember Celica right in it's face. Yang knew better than to activate her aura under water, but her weapon was perfectly safe. She watched with satisfaction as the monster spun through the water and hit the cave wall, but frowned when it bounced right back. Thankfully, it seemed to think better of the attack. It shot off through the water toward the other end of the tunnel.
Yang knew she had to follow if she wanted to get out, and she was running short on time, but she needed to find out who else was down here first. She swam up to the lifeless bodies and immediately regretted it. The first two were Cardin and Sky. She guessed they had gone into the pond and been attacked by that creature. That would explain why she didn't see them when Professor Ozpin pulled her out. The third one was Ren. Where the other two had been drowned, he looked like someone had hacked at him with a hatchet before taking him down here.
She didn't want to be down here any longer. She pushed past the dead boys and swam as fast as she could to the end of the tunnel. Sensing that she was about to run out of time and open her mouth only to swallow more water than she wanted, she propelled herself forward with a few shots from Ember Celica. Within seconds, she burst out of the tunnel and into the pond. A second more and she broke the surface.
She paddled over to the edge and climbed out, flopping over onto her back and taking a moment to rest and catch her breath. It took her a moment, but she eventually noticed Professor Ozpin standing over her with his mug of coffee.
Ozpin took a sip from his mug before speaking, sounding mildly amused. "You're the fourth person in a row to come crashing out of there. I don't remember that many people going in, never mind that I didn't see you come back outside."
She ignored him and pushed herself up, remembering what Junko had told her. She ran in the direction of the Emerald Forest, hoping she would be able to get answers soon.
The Professor called after her. "And you're the third one to come out of the pond and run in that direction without saying anything."
She didn't answer, but she assumed he then proceeded to take another sip of coffee. She didn't care. It was time for answers.
Author's note: This is actually shaping up at a much better pace than I anticipated. I just hope the last chapter, which is the next chapter, comes out right. It shouldn't take too long, but there are other things I need to work on.