Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. The wonderful characters and settings of the RWBY universe belong to Monty Oum and RoosterTeeth.
Chasing Shadows
Chapter Seven: The Girl in the Flames
"Sloppy"
"Poor"
"Arrogant"
"Wild"
"Naïve"
This was only a few of the names Yang had been called today. She was once again drenched in sweat, the muscles in her good arm screamed for a hot bath and a massage. Before her was her mother, Raven. Her hair was as wild as Yang's and her eyes mirrored the angry red glare of her daughters. She had yet to break a sweat, even after the four hours of combat they'd been through. Yang had only hit her once in the three weeks they'd been training together and that had been by accident.
She came at Raven again, her stance altered to accommodate the lop-sidedness of her body. She still hadn't fully adjusted, but she could at least brawl with a Grimm or two. It wouldn't be the fast and destructive flow of her past fights, but she'd make it work. She kicked out at her mother's face, who merely ducked under the protruding leg, lifting it awkwardly and throwing Yang of what little balance she had. Around her throat came her other hand, as she brought Yang right into her face.
"Weak."
She threw her across the room, the brawler crashed to the unpadded floors in a painful heap. She took a second to catch her breath as she rolled onto her back.
"Again Yang. Get up, always –"
She cut her mother off; she had heard the phrase repeated to her constantly. It was like it was Raven's mantra or something, although she still hadn't spoken properly to her mother. If she wasn't training she was sleeping, and Raven would go off on her 'mission'. Yang still hadn't worked out if her mother actually slept at all.
"Always get up, never stay down. I know, just, let me catch my breath."
"No."
Raven was upon her in a flash, a booted foot crashed down where Yang's head had been seconds earlier. The blonde rolled to the side as she saw it coming. Yang tried to spring to her feet, as she had done so many times in the past, it was beyond instinctual at this point. Except she couldn't push herself up as she had done in the past, she only had the one arm. She brought her knee under her body and pushed herself up that way, ready to fight her mother once again.
She was too slow, again.
Mid way through her move, when she was knelt on one knee and ready to spring up she felt a kick to her back. She went sprawling forward only to be met with her mothers other leg, which kicked around her neck and snapped her body backwards. It was only her aura that prevented her from being permanently paralysed.
She crashed onto her back, gasping at her throat for air.
"Slow. Far too slow."
As if she hadn't worked that out for herself.
"I've already said I can't fight with one arm!" Her voice was harsh; full of the frustration at having to explain again what she thought was an obvious point. Raven couldn't undo nearly ten years of combat experience with two arms in three weeks; no matter how hard they trained.
"You don't only have one arm."
Yang was furious, how could someone who claimed to be so 'enlighten to the true nature of the world' be so incredulous. Raven was refusing to acknowledge cold, hard fact and it was wearing on the girls already thing patience.
"Why do you keep saying that? Unless you're fucking blind you can't have missed the fact my right arm stops at my elbow!" Yang could feel the flames lick at her just under her skin, just begging to be let free.
"I assure you Yang I am anything but blind. You have the power Yang. You can shape them to your will. Make a new one." Raven's voice was as level and rock hard as always. Yang had yet to hear one trace of emotion other than contempt the one time she had mentioned Ozpin and Qrow.
"Shape what? What makes you think I'm so special! How can you expect me to learn if I don't what I'm supposed to be learning about?"
Yang had drawn herself up to full height, standing far too close to Raven to be safe. She snarled in the older woman's face as she spoke. She would suffer for this later she was sure but right now she didn't care. The flames that begged to be free when burning against her skin, she could feel the call. She couldn't hold it in even if she wanted not.
She didn't want to.
The fire burst from her skin, surrounding the fiery blonde in an angry orange glow that would have scared away the most powerful of Grimm.
Of course, Raven was unfazed. She was almost amused at her daughter's antics; safe in the knowledge Yang couldn't really hurt her, not even if she tried. Not yet, at least.
"I'm not surprised you haven't figured it out yet, it was the way you were raised after all. Having Ruby didn't help I'd imagine"
Yang was confused. "What are you on about? I'm still not hearing any answers."
"Your flames Yang. Think about them."
This wasn't what Yang was expecting. If she truly had any powers like Ruby she expected them to be hidden, locked away from her until something truly cataclysmic happened. She supposed now that was stupid, she could have used her powers long ago if that was the case, she'd had several qualifying scenarios in which to see them manifest.
"My…my flames?"
"Yes Yang, your flames. They are special, as are you"
"But they're just a side effect of my semblance… I don't have control over them. If anything they control me. I feel them burn under my skin all the time these days, just begging to be unleashed."
It was true, all of it. Yang was so angry these days; she had been tossed from person to person, no one ever staying to explain things. The one's who did stay didn't have the answers and the one's who had the answers never showed up in the first place. It was a vicious cycle and the young girl saw no way out. Raven would abandon her again soon, as soon as she realised she was wrong. Yang wasn't special, she couldn't be.
"Ha"
Raven genuinely laughed at Yang's comment. It was the first sign of humanity Yang had seen in all these weeks. Her laugh was short and breathy, more from the nose than the mouth but it was there.
"A side effect of your semblance. It's believably I suppose, and it's all you've ever known. I need you to open your eyes Yang, to listen to me for once and actually hear what I'm saying."
Yang had no other option, if she said no Raven would send her home, to a father who was surely as furious as her. Home was cold and boring, home was being alone. She didn't want to be alone.
"Semblance's don't have side effects like yours Yang. They don't. Some people might get a small glow in their eye, maybe a visible outline of their aura, but they don't have effects like yours Yang. They don't."
"But Ruby-"
"Forget Ruby. What about your other teammates? Does the Schnee girl have a side effect? The faunus?"
Yang thought on the matter. It was true enough that neither Blake nor Weiss exhibited any physical changes where using their semblance. Weiss' eyes didn't change and Blake certainly didn't catch on fire, nothing even remotely close.
"Qrow said it was rare to have such extreme side effects like mine. It's perfectly possible Blake and Weiss are just normal."
"What about the other teams at the Vytal tournament. Yes, I watched a match or two. Team JNPR, do any of them have 'side-effects'? Or those you faced? Did Flynt Coal have anything else happen when he split himself in four?"
Yang was struggling to remember now. There must have been someone… anyone who had at least some sort of side effect to their semblance. The only name that sprung to mind was Ruby, but Raven already knew that.
"I… I"
"Yang, you attended a school full of huntsmen and huntresses in training. There is no larger gathering of aura-unlocked individuals in the world than the Vytal festival. Did you, at any time during either of these things come across one, just one, other person who had any sort of 'side effect' like yours?"
Yang thought hard. She shifted through her memories of the festival, of Beacon. Coco? No, Velvet? No, Yatsuhashi? No, Fox? No, Cardin? No, Sun? No, Neptune? No. She carried on and on, thinking back to every sparring match she'd ever seen in class or the festival. Finally, she was forced to concede defeat.
"None, except Ruby"
"That's because your flames are not related to your semblance Yang. Ruby is special; she froze a Grimm with the power of her eyes! If she is the only person you know who is in anyway similar to you, what does that tell you."
Yang got it now; she thought she might finally understand. The pieces of this particular jigsaw had finally fallen into place. "That I might be special too."
"You can control Fire Yang. It's in your very blood and soul. There are many names for what you can do. Some would call you the 'Dragon Warrior', others the 'Sun Child'. A few would even claim you have the soul of a phoenix. I don't know which is true. What I do know is that you have this power Yang, a power we have guarded for centuries."
"We?" She asked.
"The Branwen family can trace its roots back thousands of years, back to the days before refined dust, when man was more primal. We were shaman's back then, we still are in blood. Have you never wondered how Qrow and me find people so easily? We can turn into the animals whose spirit we embody. It is not my semblance, it is a power given in my blood, much like yours." Raven paused, giving her daughter time to digest the huge amounts of information she was being given, before starting again.
The Branwen line has always had the blood of the first 'Dragon Warrior' in it. We are the guardians of it, since the beginning of man. The birth of a child with your power is random Yang, done only when whatever power it is decides that the world is in need of its avatar. There hasn't been one like you in hundreds of years."
"So that's what you meant when you claimed Qrow and your father had forgotten their roots!" It was all beginning to make sense to Yang now. Perhaps she was truly special; perhaps she finally had a purpose of her own. "I still don't see how this helps with my arm though."
Raven was frustrated, incensed. How could Yang still not see? Finally she allowed her emotions to flood her voice, anger and frustration in equal measure. "Did you not just listen to me? You can control it; bend it to your will Yang. Make a new arm."
Yang could feel the flames that had retreated under her skin. They still battered on the doors of her self-control, urging the passionate blonde to spring them from their prison and cast their vengeance upon the world. Yang had never tried using her flames before; she'd never thought herself able. Closing her eyes and breathing deeply Yang began to push the flames to her good hand, urging them to the palm. She spread her hand wide in anticipation of the fireball she would create.
The flames rebelled against her control, the tried to move away from her arm, scattering across her body. They couldn't escape her will completely however, and slowly she built them up at her palm. Still, no matter how much she urged them to pass through the skin, to form as she commanded they would not.
Then, there was a spark.
Yang was forced to relinquish her control on the flames, her head beginning to pound with the effort. The fire rushed back through her body, once again testing the skin and mind to be allowed out unto the world. Yang was exhausted; her eyes lost their red tint and returned to her normal soft lilac. She risked a glance at her mother once more.
"Good."
A/N: What's this! I though you weren't going to update for a week! Well so did I but this chapter seemed to almost flow from me, I literally managed to get it written in one go. I hope you guys enjoy it, let me know which name you like best for Yang's power.
Many Thanks to all those who have reviewed, they really keep me motivated and I'm glad you're all enjoying the story I am crafting. As always, this chapter is unbeta'd.