Chapter 15: Lilac
"The White Fang is Here?", Blake asked in a panic.
Yang was unsure how to respond. It wasn't as if she didn't know the answer, but holding a scroll in her hand while staring down three beowolves would introduce an element of impossibility to an already challenging situation. Her goal had been to escape the dormitory. What to do after that was anyone's guess. Maybe she could link up with her team, or another team. Finding three beowolves inside of the building was not high on her list of things she had looked forward to doing today. She quickly backtracked down the hall she had come from, towards her team's room. The Grimm howled as they began their pursuit.
Blake was able to hear the monsters through the scroll. Although she couldn't see the things Yang could see, Blake knew that her teammate was in a dangerous situation. She let out a desperate cry, 'Yang?!' There was nothing she could do, but she wanted to hear her friend say that she was alright.
Yang didn't have time to make small talk, or any kind of talk, really. In a closed space like this, a battle with a beowolf would be an incredibly dangerous ordeal. The usual strategy of outmaneuvering was not viable in a hallway only slightly larger than the beast itself. Of course, it would all become irrelevant if she was too busy talking to Blake to avoid being mauled by the Grimm.
There was no time to unlock the door to her room, so she was forced to run past it. At the end of the hallway, there were corridors leading to the left and right. To the left were elevators, which would be useless considering the time it would take to call them. To the right, laundry rooms. Since it really didn't matter, and neither option was an escape route, she chose right. "Ugh, gotta go! Be careful!", she told Blake hurriedly before ending the call and stowing her scroll away for safekeeping. She turned around just as the first beowolf rounded the corner behind her.
Yang considered her situation. So, I've got nowhere to run, nowhere to hide… and I'm all out of cliches to use. It looks like fighting is the only option. The beowolf stepped towards her slowly, clearly trying to intimidate the much smaller girl. When she stood her ground, the beast became enraged, possibly insulted by her fortitude. It lunged toward her with a reckless swipe of its right claw. Yang jumped backward to a knee, landing with both arms behind her, and launched herself forward with a blast from both the left and right chambers of her Ember Celica. Using her weapon-fire as a propellant had become one of her signature moves. In this case, she connected with a heavy right hook to the beowolf's head. It was pretty close to a free shot, as her foe was still recoiling from the follow through of its original attack.
The impact sent the Grimm flying backwards down the short hall past the connecting corridor leading back to her room, and through a wall that had formerly been the dead end opposite of her current position. It was a successful engagement, but it didn't buy very much time. The other two beowolves thundered down the corridor and around the corner, just as the first one had.
Acting on instinct, Yang got as much of a running start as she could, steadily firing a creeping barrage of rounds from her gauntlets at the ceiling above her opponents as she ran. The strategy worked. The dust and debris that was blasted loose from above blocked their line of sight. When she assumed that she was close enough, Yang dropped to a feet-first slide that allowed her to pass under the first set of legs. She planted her leading foot in the ground, using the momentum from her running start to force her body upright into the space between the two monsters. Then, pointing her left and right arms in opposite directions, toward a beowolf on either side of her, she unleashed several rounds into each of them. It wouldn't be enough to score a kill, but at least it disoriented them enough that she could get back to her room. At a full sprint, she made it there in seconds.
She slammed the door behind her upon re-entering the room she'd only left five minutes ago. Zwei was still here, chewing on what appeared to be… "Zwei. Seriously. The entire closet is full of dog food, and you eat a month old floor pop tart," she said with a visible disgust on her face. The only reply that she got was a short yelp, and some tail wagging.
Little had changed in her room since she'd left it. From her window, she could still see transport ships at the docks, but they did not appear to be off-loading Grimm any more. The television displayed only static now. The fight she had previously been tuned into ended in a dismemberment. For a short time, the audience was left in a terrifying state of shock at what had happened. Then there was that voice. It spoke over the video feed. It… She warned of treachery and institutionalized warmongering, but Yang had not detected even the slightest insincerity from the professors and headmasters that she had met..
Her recollection of the evening's events was interrupted by the fist of a beowolf bursting through her door. "Didn't your mother ever teach you to knock?" She asked angrily, before firing two rounds back through the door. For a moment, the attacker was staggered, but another was quick to take the place of the first. Yang thrust her arm forward to fire again, but there was no blast. Just an empty click. Idiot, she thought. I must really be off my game today.
Very quickly, Yang ejected all of the empty shells from her gauntlets, and wrapped a fresh belt onto each arm. The process didn't take more than a few seconds, but it was enough of a delay that the second intruder had smashed the door off of its hinges. She loaded the first round into each chamber, took aim, and watched as Zwei flew from across the room to headbutt a beowolf easily ten times his own size in the stomach, apparently knocking the breath out of it. She was speechless. Note to self. Feed. Zwei. More. Poptarts.
The beowolf tried to get up, but Yang kicked its arms out from under it. She stood over her fallen foe triumphantly, before firing a blast into the back of its head. For a moment it was quiet again, save for the rustle of black ashes scattering across the floor. Then the sounds of combat returned. This time, they were different. The howling and scratching of a pack of Grimm had faded into the chaotic rat-a-tat of small arms fire coming from outside her window. She stood in anticipation of the missing third beowolf, but it didn't come.
By now, Zwei had recovered from his kamikaze attack, and was trotting towards the wreckage that had formerly been known as a door. As if there was no risk at all, he continued his march until he stood squarely in the center of the hallway. Yang slapped her own forehead at the sight, wondering how anyone could be so oblivious to danger. Zwei turned back toward her, indicating that there was nothing to observe.
As she approached the entryway to the room, Yang noticed that the beowolf that she had blind-fired through the door had flown across the hallway and through the wall into Team Juniper's room. Visibility inside the room was limited due to the shroud of dust that was created by the destruction of the wall. Zwei had lost interest in playing the role of the lead scout, so he headed back into the room, intent on finishing his meal.
Stepping up to the hole in the wall, Yang attempted to peer inside the room, but something stirring down the hall forced her to turn her attention away. The third beowolf was limping around the corner at an incredibly slow pace. Despite this, it still appeared intent on destroying her. She faced herself down the hall toward her enemy, crouched, and prepared to charge. In its weakened state, Yang knew this wouldn't even be a fight. As it turned out, she was wrong. A giant black claw lunged out from the smokescreen that she had been investigating moments before, catching the unsuspecting huntress squarely in the abdomen.
She stumbled away, absorbing the blow as gracefully as she could. Laughing at the apparent insignificance of the attack, she began to taunt her attacker, "Ha! You've gotta do better than-" ...I can't breathe. Staggering backwards awkwardly, Yang found herself irritated that her body had failed so miserably to take a single hit. One blow had reduced her to a gasping heap of humanity. The beowolf responsible for the sneak attack was now climbing back through the hole in the wall. It snarled when it laid eyes on her, almost as if it could sense weakness. Yang attempted to retreat down the hallway to give herself more time to recover, but from her hunched over position, she didn't make much progress.
A few pot shots slowed the advance of the beowolf, but failed to buy enough time for her to fully catch her breath. The closer of the two enemies leapt toward her. In her current state, she was not fast enough to evade the attack. The impressive mass of the beowolf was now bearing down on her. Yang now found herself on her back, inches away from a mouth full of teeth that was snapping at her face. The only thing keeping her from being ripped to shreds was her legs. She had lodged them into the stomach of her attacker. At first, she tried to push the giant beast away, but with her limited breathing ability, the strength simply wasn't there.
Yang tried to train her gauntlets on the beowolf, but it's long arms were pinning her own to the ground. It was more or less a stalemate, but sheer weight and force of strength favored the Grimm. She could do little more than try to wrestle her arms free. Yang was able to see down the hallway, and to her dismay, the second beowolf was slowly getting closer. She began to struggle more urgently, realizing that time was now running out for her. A loud howl escaped the mouth of the monster on top of her, as if to indicate that its victory was inevitable. Yang screamed back in its face as loud as she could, to almost no effect.
Almost.
The sound of Yang in peril was the cue for Zwei to wander back into the hall. He looked immediately toward his distressed master. From his perspective, she was in trouble, but from the same perspective, Zwei couldn't see the second beowolf closing in from behind him. It wound up a mighty backhand swipe with its claw, and swatted the small dog into a wall. He landed on the ground on his side, and lay motionless for a few moments. It was enough to trigger Yang's intrinsic protective instincts.
"Zwei! Get up boy!", she shrieked. The outburst compromised some of her strength, and the teeth got closer, but it also compromised her emotions. In the span of a single blink, her beautiful lilac eyes became terrifyingly crimson. The beowolf noticed this change, cocking its head to the side, unsure how to interpret what was happening to his prey.
Yang pulled her legs back quickly, and used all of her available strength to shift her body to the left. She didn't move much, but the beowolf hadn't expected the resistance from her legs to end so suddenly. Its head flew past hers, and smashed into the floor next to her. Finally free from the crushing weight, she swung her left fist around, landing a powerful blow to the midsection of the beowolf. Then another. And another. She fired a dozen rounds into the monster until it began to turn to ash. Yang's shortness of breath was no longer affecting her.
She turned her fiery eyes toward the half of a beowolf still standing in the hallway before her. Letting out a mighty scream, Yang charged it. Along the warpath, she fired several more rounds, using the last of her ammunition. She didn't care. The wounded Grimm was over-matched by the intensity of her semblance. She landed punch after punch on the easy target, even with no added effect from her weapon. After a seemingly endless barrage of lefts and rights, the last beowolf was no more.
For a moment, she relished her victory. Then the beautiful, caring eyes returned. "Zwei!? Are you alright?", she cried. Her dog was still lying in the hall, but now he was squirming a bit. She moved quickly, and knelt down next to him. Yang held him close, in her arms. "Ya know, if you didn't keep saving me, I'd probably be pretty mad at you right now." Zwei slowly turned his head to acknowledge the concerns by licking her on the cheek. "You're the worst," she said sarcastically. It was fairly obvious that her tiny partner wasn't in great shape.
Yang had seen better days too. Her knuckles were bruised from the savagery of her most recent attack. She didn't feel it, of course. The adrenaline was still flowing through her, but for the moment, her judgement was not clouded. "We've got to get to the docks. Thats where we'll find the others," she told her dog.
The trip down to the first floor was far less perilous than the earlier melee. Yang decided to take the elevators down. The odds of encountering hostile forces of any kind, Grimm or otherwise, would be greatly reduced. The lobby of the dormitory was completely deserted. There were some signs of conflict. Black ashes were scattered across the ground level, and there were cracks in the walls and floor. From her current position, the sounds of battle were more exaggerated than they had been from several stories up.
As she stepped outside, Yang could see soldiers fighting against other soldiers, which made no sense to her. The Grimm were everywhere, and the White Fang seemed to be causing chaos wherever they could. In an attempt to avoid engaging in a conflict while carrying a dog, she stayed clear of everything that had the potential to be even remotely hostile. The docks were a reasonably short run from her dormitory.
Upon arriving, it became clear that some of Beacon's faculty was attempting to set up an evacuation. Yang's flowing golden hair must have been difficult to miss. She was immediately identified by Oobleck.
"Miss Xiao Long. It's good to see that you've made it here. If you'll hurry, we'll get you aboard a transport ship, and you will be taken to the safe zone in Vale immediately."
"Uh, sorry professor-" she started.
"Doctor…"
"Right, doctor. So... I'm still trying to find the rest of my team. I came here to leave Zwei with someone. He's a little banged up right now, so I don't want to take him back into a war zone."
Oobleck was a bit miffed by the way Yang brushed off his invitation. "I apologize if I was unclear, but there will be no returning to Beacon. This is a mandatory evac... Hey!"
Yang had already turned and started to run back towards the center of the academy. "Thanks for taking care of Zwei, professor!"
He stood silently for a moment, before turning to his colleague, deflated. "It's… doctor..." Professor Port placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking his head, before walking away unphased by Oobleck's struggle.
As Yang neared the heart of Beacon Academy, she could see a white Paladin off in the distance. It charged towards the base of Beacon Tower where, it looked like there was a small group banded together prepared to engage it. She was still unsure of the reasons why Atlesian units were fighting other Atlesian units and students, but the only way to understand it was to investigate it herself. Running as fast as she could, Yang still only made it halfway to the battlefield before she watched the huge metal monster shut down and slide to a stop mere feet in front of… "Weiss?"
There was still no time for small talk or pleasantries. Yang was glad to see that her teammate was ok, but now she was concerned with the well being of Ruby and Blake. Weiss pointed her in the direction that Blake had run to chase the Alpha Beowolf, and within moments, Yang was in pursuit, although not particularly excited about the prospects of fighting more beowolves.
She felt terrible for leaving Weiss the way she did. Her teammate looked completely exhausted. Yang made a mental note to do something nice for her some time, but her missing friend was somehow more important.
As Yang searched for Blake, thoughts began to swirl in her mind. What's she thinking… going after an Alpha on her own? You have to be smarter than that, Blake. I swear… if there's a scratch on her, I'll strangle that thing with my belt. She felt so many emotions. Some of them made sense. Fear and helplessness were easy to explain, her teammate could be in trouble. But there was a certain emptiness inside of her. She couldn't reconcile it with reasoning or logic. The feeling just ate away at her.
Every few seconds, Yang called out to Blake. There were no responses. The only group interested in answering the call were scattered members of the White Fang, but they were easily dispatched now that her gauntlets were reloaded. The search was getting her nowhere. If Blake was nearby, she would answer. She called out one more time, "Blaaaaaaake?"
Silence prevailed. Yang tried to reason with her racing mind. Come on Blake. Where are you? Give me something. Anything.
'Anything' turned out to be a poor choice for a request. An unmistakable, shrill scream pierced through the ambient sounds of battle. Yang turned toward the source, only to see Blake at the mercy of a tall, red haired man wearing a Grimm mask. He stood over her silently, his blade piercing her midsection. He looked at Yang irreverently, before removing the blade without even the slightest show of emotion.
Yang's mind raced to try to understand the circumstances of what she was witnessing. Her eyes met Blake's, and for a moment, she couldn't even begin to think of what to say or do. Everything went blank while she absorbed the sight of her closest friend, possibly in her final moments.
Even with a significant wound, Blake tried to vocalize something.. She spoke softly, and with great pain, making herself difficult to understand. "No… please…"
Yang didn't even have to think about the warning. It was irrelevant. Blake was in a situation where her demise was one possible outcome, and that could not be allowed to happen. She offered one warning to the nameless aggressor. "GET AWAY FROM HER!"
His only reaction was to sheath his weapon.
Her only reaction was blind rage. The fire returned, and yet, fear for Blake's life still caused tears to well in her eyes. With a double blast from Ember Celica, Yang propelled herself into a full frontal attack on this unknown assailant. She cocked her right arm back in mid-flight, prepared to put everything on the line to save her friend. In less than an instant, it was over. She tumbled helplessly through the air. Her fire left her almost as quickly as it had arrived. For a brief moment, she remained conscious, but there was no time to try to understand what had gone wrong. The light was fading in her lilac eyes, and with it, the exuberance that had, up until this point, defined the very fabric of who she was.