Hey guys I'm sorry to say this will be my last update for awhile, I have my first serious case of writer's block. I don't want to start volume two yet because it's still ongoing and instead I want to do another non canon arc but right now I only have half formed ideas so unfortunately it will be a while. Anyway I hope you all like the conclusion to my first non canon arc.
I don't own RWBY if I did I wouldn't have to think up things for the disclaimer.
Team RWBY and JNPR were gathered around their table listening to the retelling of the recent mission as they attempted to eat. Unfortunately they were so captivated by the story that most of their food was cold long before they finished it, even the stoic Ren had an interested expression on his face as they listened.
"Wow she was able to take down both Blake and Yang!" exclaimed Jaune in admiration.
"She caught us by surprise and we underestimated her," defended Blake.
"Don't forget the Headmaster originally wanted to send you after her, how do you think that would have gone Vomit Boy?" commented Yang.
Jaune paled at this and even Pyrrha and Ren looked a bit uncomfortable, Nora in contrast began jumping up and down on her chair.
"That would have been awesome I've never fought Ruby before, hey Ren we should ask Ozpin to let us fight her it'll be fun!" said the excitable ginger.
"Nora you're scaring Jaune," sighed Ren, pointing to the blonde knight whom looked ready to faint at the thought.
"Trust me Nora you do not want to be on the receiving end of that scythe," shuddered Blake to which Yang nodded, both remembering the pain from the shock.
"Still what could have happened to her to make Ruby want to kill someone?" asked Pyrrha concerned.
"Apparently Roman made some kind of deal with her so she'd work for him," replied Blake.
"What could he have promised that would be worth so much to her that she'd kill to get it?" wondered Pyrrha disturbed.
"I don't think she was serious about that," answered Jaune.
As everyone turned to look at him confused he continued, "Think about it she could have killed Tukson by shooting him instead of close up, all that does is provide more chances for him to escape. Secondly she could have killed Blake while she was unconscious and she didn't even bother chasing after Tukson once he got away. That's not something that you would do if you seriously wanted to kill someone."
"I think there's more to it than that Jaune," replied Pyrrha.
"She could have just not wanted to attract attention, Crescent Rose is quite loud after all," suggested Weiss.
"Okay so what about sparing Blake and abandoning her target," he argued back.
"She was probably on a time constraint, it's quite common for assassins to have a set time frame to get in and out of a location," informed Blake.
"Jaune I know you don't want to believe it, neither do I after she helped us, but I think we need to accept that there is more to her than meets the eye," consoled Pyrrha.
"I guess," came Jaune's weak reply.
"That's only the tip of the iceberg, the interrogation with her and Ozpin was very enlightening," said Weiss in an uncharacteristic eager voice.
Yang gritted her teeth as Weiss began to retell team JNPR of the interrogation to the exact detail, 'damn it Weiss that was meant to stay between us.' As Weiss finished her story the members of JNPR looked at her with mixed expression of shock and sadness, Nora was actually still and quiet as they listened.
"I almost feel sorry for her despite everything she's done," said Pyrrha.
The rest of her team nodded, "can you imagine what it must be like?" asked Jaune, staring down at the untouched food on his plate. "To wake up every morning and see someone else in the mirror staring back at you? To be taken from your home with no way of getting back? To not be able to remember your family or even your own name and worse of all, to know that you've forgotten?" he muttered depressed.
There was silence as they all digested his words, Yang played with her food thinking back to the sobbing girl she saw in the interrogation. She jumped as she felt someone place a hand on her shoulder spinning around the blonde saw Blake looking at her concerned.
"You okay Yang you've been awfully quiet for a while now," she asked.
"Yeah you knew Ruby best what do you think of the situation?" asked a curious Weiss, causing everyone to stare at Yang.
Yang frowned, "What do I think? I think you should all stop talking about something none of you know anything about!" she hissed as she gave them all an evil glare before getting up to leave the cafeteria.
Tell me Miss Xiao Long, what makes a person who they are? Yang frowned, 'I don't know the answer Ozpin, but I think I'm beginning to understand the question.' Walking down the halls of Beacon she made her way to a specific room before knocking.
Cardin and his team were enjoying a nice relaxing afternoon just playing games on their scrolls and watching TV when a knock came at the door. Dove walked up to the door ready to give whoever it was a piece of his mind for disturbing them when he immediately slammed the door shut again, locking all the locks and ran under the bed. The rest of CRDL looked at each other daring one of them to check it out as the knocking grew louder, eventually they settled on paper scissors rock to decide their fate. Sky was chosen first and like Dove he shut the door, screaming in terror, "she's here," before jumping out the three story window. Cardin and Russel glanced at each with confusion and no small amount of fear as the knocking evolved into loud banging.
"Cardin Winchester, get your ass out here before I get angry," called a familiar voice.
Cardin and Russel became pale as they recognized the voice, "Oh shit it's her okay don't panic we practised for this guys, commence plan Y-Wing," he yelled before they began barricading the door with anything and everything they could find, beds, chairs even tables were dragged in front of the door. They high fived upon seeing the completion of the masterpiece, until they heard the bangs turn into pounds and the barricade began to shake. They both looked at each other before pushing themselves up against the door.
"Hold the barricade damn it! If she gets in we're screwed!" he ordered his remaining teammates as Dove rushed in to help.
"Damn it Cardin! Let me in!" Yang roared as the door shook once again, the outline of it beginning to glow and flames starting to spread into the room.
"GO BACK TO THE ABYISS!" Cardin bellowed at her, causing the flames to grow bigger and hotter.
"Crap! Dove grab the fire extinguisher we'll hold the door!" he said.
"Cardin I just want to talk," she explained.
"YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" he shouted ignoring her.
The door began cracking under the brawlers continued assault, "Cardin we can't hold out for much longer," informed Russel fearfully.
"Alright we've got no choice I'll hold the door as long as possible you guys get out of here," sighed Cardin.
Dove and Russel looked at each other conflicted until Cardin yelled at them, "FLY YOU FOOLS!" They nodded giving him a salute, tears in their eyes before following Sky out the window.
Cardin braced himself as the door stopped shaking and the sound of the pounding ceased, "Cardin I'm being serious here I just want to talk to you about our little red friend that's all, please just open the door," begged Yang.
He frowned, Yang Xiao Long never begs she just takes what she wants from anyone often by force. Taking a deep breath he began removing the remnants of the barricade from the door and unlocked the door.
"Alright Blondie, I'll let you in but no funny businesses," he said, opening the door before taking a seat, making sure to keep his mace close at hand.
Yang walked into team CRDL's dorm with an expression of shock on her face, the room looked worse than her's the time she'd tried cooking. Furniture was scattered everywhere, most of it burnt, and fire extinguisher foam made it look like it had snowed inside and finally the outside window was shattered.
"Um… what happened here?" she asked Cardin, who was sitting on one of the few intact chairs.
"You did," he replied simply with raised eyebrows.
"Oh right um… really sorry about that," she said, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Just say what you want to say and go already, my team and I need to clean up your mess," he growled.
Yang suppressed a surge of anger and took a seat on one of the beds, "I know you helped her get out of Beacon that day, I want to know why," she explained.
Cardin leaned back in his chair his eyes boring into her's, "do I need a reason to help a friend?" he asked in return.
Yang blinked, 'ok not the answer I was expecting,' she thought confused. Running her fingers through her hair she walked over to the broken window, staring out as the sun began to set in the distance.
"Ok so how did you become friends then?" asked Yang as she leaned against the wall, turning back to face him.
Cardin looked at Yang, sighing as he clasped his hands behind his head, "how much did she tell you about the Forever Fall incident?"
Yang frowned, "just that the two of you had to fight an Ursa major and that you had to stay the night in a cave," she replied thinking back.
Cardin nodded, "while we were in the cave I asked her why she saved me and you know what she said, 'she'd screwed someone over and decided to live out their dreams for them,' a 15 year old said that Yang. Can you imagine the burden she's carrying?"
Cardin got up from his chair and pulled something out of his draw, "next thing I know she's singing, you should have heard her it was full of grief and sadness but also hope," he continued, staring at the object in his hand.
Yang looked at him in confusion as he made his way over to her, "and you know what? Despite all her suffering she decided to help me more than anyone had before, she even covered for me when we went to see Ozpin. So I decided then and there that if she ever needed it she had my help."
Yang shook her head in disbelief, "alright how would you describe her then?" she asked.
Cardin sat back down thinking, "If I was to describe her then she would be like a fae from the old tales, mischievous and fun with her friends but cunning and ruthless to her enemies, but despite this she has a good heart and is fiercely protective of those she cares for," he concluded.
"I see thanks for your time Cardin I appreciate it," she said, making her way to the door.
"Yang wait!" called Cardin getting up, causing her to spin around.
Walking over to her he took a deep breath, "look I don't know what's going on between you two but listen no fight is worth losing your sibling over, trust me I learnt that the hard way," he said giving the object in his hand one last look before putting it on the desk.
Red yawned from her recent nap and tried to grab the now cold mug of coffee but it was just out of her reach thanks to the damn handcuffs, 'he probably put it there on purpose the bastard,' she thought angrily. Giving up she was about to return to her attempts to break the cuffs when the door opened. Looking up Red immediately jumped to her feet only to be yanked back down by the cuffs.
"You here to gloat?" she asked, unimpressed.
Yang didn't respond and instead took the seat across from Red, placing a tray of cookies on the table she just looked at her. Seeing no indication either way from Yang and her aura giving no warnings she cautiously reached for a cookie. Keeping an eye on the brawler at all times Red quickly grabbed a cookie, sniffed it a couple of times before eating it. After waiting a few minutes with no ill effects Red began grabbing them by the truckload and in the space of five minutes the entire tray was gone. Throughout it all Yang said nothing just watching her with an expression she'd never seen before.
"Um… so how much of the dorms did you break to make these," she joked, attempting to provoke a response from the blonde.
Again Yang said nothing and just watched her causing Red to flinch under her gaze. 'Ok this is getting kind of creepy,' she thought, her hand stroking her neck.
"Why do you do that?" asked Yang.
Red jumped, "do what?" she asked, confused.
"Clutch your neck like that, you did the same thing when we met before," responded the blonde.
Red just glared at her before taking her cloak off revealing long burn marks and bruises along her neck. Yang frowned and looked away upon seeing them, recognizing the cause. Red gave a dark chuckle as she replaced her cloak.
"You think that's bad huh? That's after my aura healed them, it was a lot worse when I first got them that's for sure," she said wincing slightly, a guilty look crossing Yang's face at this.
"So… how's Ember Celica doing? It looked like Crescent Rose did quite a number on it," asked Red, hoping to lighten up the atmosphere.
"Still broken I haven't been able to fix it yet," came the gruff reply, dashing Red's hopes on the rocks.
Red just sighed, "Alright Yang why don't you tell me why you're here, I doubt it was just a social visit."
Yang nodded, "Weiss told me what you did, at first I thought she was lying but then I saw the footage. You dived in front of a truck to save me, why?" she asked, confused.
Red looked up at the ceiling frowning, "I don't know I wasn't thinking at the time, I just saw you in danger and my body moved by itself," she finished, shrugging.
The brawler looked at her with a conflicted expression before sighing, "I spoke to Cardin he seems to think pretty highly of you," she said, causing Red to focus on her. "Which means that you wouldn't work with Roman for money. So why did you?"
'So that's it,' thought Red sighing.
"It doesn't matter I lost anyway," she muttered depressed.
"Winning isn't everything," replied the brawler.
"It's just the only thing that matters," shot back Red.
"True but sometimes you have to ask yourself, was it worth it?" said Yang.
Red looked at her in surprise before a thoughtful expression crossed her face. The silence between them grew until she took a deep breath at looked up at Yang.
"Yang do you remember the time you, Ruby and Qrow burnt down Summer's home?" she asked getting a confused nod from the blonde.
"Tell me if you could see it again and relive the happy memories you made there would you? And if so what would you be willing to pay?" she said looking Yang in the eye.
For her part the brawler just looked at her in surprise before her face contorted into a look of concentration. Eventually she just sighed, "I don't know, I don't think anyone could know until they're presented with that choice."
Red stared at her hands as she folded her arms over the table, "Roman promised me that he'd help me go back home to Earth if I worked for him. Funny isn't it, all it took to get me on his side was a meaningless promise he likely never planned to fulfil," she muttered darkly.
Yang was silent as she digested this new information before she got up and headed for the door, turning to face Red as she left, "the desire to see home again isn't meaningless, it's one of the things that makes us human."
Red looked up in confusion as the door shut, leaving her alone with her thoughts, 'what was that about?' she wondered.
As Yang left the interrogation room she heard clapping coming from behind her, turning around she found herself staring at headmaster Ozpin whom was walking out from the observation room.
"That was a most impressive performance Miss Xiao Long," he said.
"And it was meant to be private, how long were you there for?" she asked, clamping down on her rising temper.
"Since the start," he admitted, shamelessly.
Seeing her enraged face he continued, "Did you really think I'd leave Miss Rose's room unmonitored, especially with someone who has shown to have a vendetta against her?" asked Ozpin, glaring at her.
He dropped he glare quickly however and it was replaced with a smile, "still I am impressed with the way you handled that, thanks to you we have finally made some progress with Miss Rose."
"What are you going to do with her?" she asked, neutrally.
Ozpin looked back to the interrogation room, "I'm going to talk to her see if I can change her mind and help her. Now that we know her motive it's clear she is no danger to the students," informed Ozpin.
"Although I am curious," he said, turning back to Yang. "What brought about this sudden change in attitude?"
She frowned, "I've been thinking about what you told me in your office that day, about what makes a person who they are," she explained.
"Oh," Ozpin smiled, "and what have you found?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.
Yang looked back at the room, "That you could spend a whole life time trying to solve that question and still not get any closer to the answer. There is no one thing that defines a person, the thing that makes them who they are is simply themselves," she explained.
"So then, how do you tell what a person is like?" queried Ozpin, giving her his full attention.
"You talk to them, you talk to their friends, you find out anything you can about them and after that… you trust your heart to know what to do," she replied walking away.
Ozpin watched her as she left, "you really are her child aren't you Yang Xiao Long," he whispered before walking into the interrogation room.
To say Red had been surprised by the current events would be a lie, she wasn't surprised she was stunned. First none other than Yang Xiao Long had come to visit her and instead of beating her up she'd given her cookies and they'd just talked. Next Ozpin had showed up and began another question session with her before offering to let her back into Beacon in exchange that he'd be keeping an eye on her. Now she was walking to the cafeteria to get food as if nothing had ever happened, 'how do I get myself into these situations?' she wondered. As she arrived Red heard the cafeteria go silent and felt everyone's eyes fall upon her. Heading to the counter she grabbed a plate of cookies and headed off to a small table by the corner, sighing as she heard whispers and ducking under a piece of fruit thrown at her.
Glaring at the offender she placed her tray on the table and semblanced in front of the student with scythe in hand, "hey do you know why Crescent Rose is red? Here's a clue it's not paint," she said, giving him a slasher smile before walking off.
Sitting down she caught sight of team RWBY and JNPR watching her carefully from across the room, even Jaune had a fearful expression on his face.
"Welcome to Beacon," she muttered.
"Damn Red was that really necessary?" came a voice from in front of her.
Looking up Red smiled, "necessary no, fun yes."
Cardin gave a bark of laughter, "so these seats taken?" he asked.
"I don't know I am kind of popular right now," she said, rolling her eyes.
Giving a snort Cardin and his team took their seats around the table and began arguing about teachers and the recent assignments. Throughout it all Red stayed silent as she listened to the growing banter with a smile on her face, maybe things weren't so bad after all.
"Um… guys we might have problem here," said Jaune, fearfully pointing to the entrance.
Everyone turned to look and instantly began unknowingly reaching for their missing weapons, there casually strolling into the cafeteria was Ruby Rose. All of them watched as she began grabbing food, the entire room silent.
"Wow I don't think I've ever seen the place this quiet," whispered Yang amazed.
"Well she did take you down and she worked for Roman, I'm not surprised everyone's scared of her," commented Weiss.
"True… wait we were told to keep that a secret, so how did everyone find out," realized Yang.
They all turned to look at JNPR's resident ginger, "Nora did you tell anyone?" asked Ren.
Nora blinked, "silly Ren I wouldn't do that, although I did get lost the halls wondering about it."
"Nora, you think out loud," groaned Ren face palming.
Turning back they watched Ruby dodge some thrown food before glaring at the culprit as she placed her food down. Instead of eating her food she disappeared and reappeared in front of the student with Crescent Rose unleashed. After she terrorized the poor student Jaune looked ready to live up to his nickname as they watched her sit down at the table, briefly catching their stare. Yang frowned as she saw her give a depressed expression before beginning to eat the cookies in her corner.
"I sort of feel sorry for her," admitted Yang, much to the shock of her friends.
"Yang she brought this on herself," reasoned Blake.
"Did she? I'm the one who drove her out of Beacon after all," replied the blonde.
"You didn't cause her to join that criminal Yang, she had a choice and she sold us out for money," argued Weiss.
Yang frowned and said nothing as she just watched team CRDL approach her and for the first time Yang saw a real smile on her face, a Ruby smile. Picking up her plate she turned to her teammates, "come on let's go I've lost my appetite."
They arrived at the dorm and got changed into their causal clothes as Yang brought out the two gauntlets of Ember Celica, one blackened and damaged while the other was shining a brilliant gold.
Blake looked at them frowning, "why haven't you gotten them fixed yet Yang? We have Combat classes tomorrow."
"I can't these were custom made for me, even I don't know all the mechanics behind them," she replied, sadly.
"So what are you going to do about Combat classes?" asked Weiss.
Yang shook her head, "I don't know, I guess I'll just fight bear handed," she said.
"I could fix it."
"This is it just go in there don't make eye contact and go to sleep, easy," she said, psyching herself up.
Taking a deep breath opened the door to team RWBY's dorm and to her confusion saw them all crowding around Yang. Quietly closing the door behind her she climbed up to Fort Ruby and sat down watching them as they examined Ember Celica, 'what's going on?' she thought in confusion.
"Why haven't you gotten them fixed yet Yang? We have Combat classes tomorrow," asked the Faunus.
"I can't these were custom made for me, even I don't know all the mechanics behind them," responded Yang.
'You would if you'd actually bothered to try instead of letting me… I mean Ruby do all the work,' Red thought grinning.
Weiss looked up at Yang, "so what are you going to do about Combat classes?"
"I don't know, I guess I'll just fight bear handed," she said with a shake of her head.
"I could fix it," Red said meekly.
All of them jumped at the sound of her voice, spinning around they began reaching for their weapons. Seeing this Red grabbed Crescent Rose and jumped down from the bed getting into a combat stance.
"All of you stop!" shouted Yang, causing everyone to lower their weapons. The blonde turned to Red, "what are you doing here?" she asked.
Red sheathed the scythe and met her gaze, "I sleep here remember, apparently Ozpin still thinks I'm part of the team," she answered shrugging.
Weiss and Blake looked at each other clearly uncomfortable with the situation while Yang just nodded.
"What were you saying before?" she asked.
"I said I could fix it for you," sighed Red.
Yang looked at her confused, "is this an apology?" she asked.
Red just shrugged, "that depends, is it working?"
A brief smile crossed Yang's face, "it might be," she replied handing Ember Celica over to Red before turning to her teammates. "Come on let's go relax we have the rest of the day free after all," she said jumping onto her own bed. Weiss and Blake just looked between the two wondering what had just happened.
Red sighed as she sat down for Combat class noticing a visible ring of empty seats around her, 'well I guess I know what people think of me, no one will disturb me at least.' She placed her hood over her head and intending to get some sleep when she was startled by a voice in her ear.
"Well Miss Rose since you seem to think that this is a waste of time you can go first," ordered a very angry Goodwitch.
Red jumped and came face to face with the professor whom just ordered her onto the stage. She didn't even bother arguing and just sighed again as she trudged up to the stage, ignoring the snickers from the crowd.
"Alright now who wants to volunteer as Miss Rose's sparring partner?" asked Goodwitch.
Immediately the snickers stopped and the room became silent with not one person stepping forward, thanks to team JNPR holding Nora back. Red gave an amused smirk, 'looks like my reputation precedes me.'
"If no one volunteers I will be forced to pick someone," threatened the professor.
"I'll do it," came a familiar voice.
Red gripped her scythe tighter as Yang walked on to the stage with Ember Celica. The professor nodded and walked of the stage, directing everyone to a safe distance. They both got into their stances as the timer and aura levels appeared on the screen.
"So was this your plan all along?" she asked the blonde.
"Actually no I just saw an opportunity and I took it," replied Yang.
Red frowned, "an opportunity to do what?" she asked, confused.
Yang didn't break eye contact, "it's a great irony that the nature of combat always reveals the true nature of those who fight, I'm hoping you don't disappoint me" she replied as the timer reached zero.
Not waiting for Red to take the initiative Yang launched round after round at her, forcing Red to focus on dodging instead of attacking. Seeing the shots were ineffective Yang charged Red whom had to use her scythe as a staff as she blocked blow after blow from the brawler. The dance between them continued until Yang overextended herself with a punch creating an opening for Red. Slamming the scythe blade into the ground she spun around using her momentum along with aura infused muscles to send Yang flying into the wall. Wasting no time she fired the entire clip into the stunned blonde, creating large cracks in the wall. However Red was unprepared for Yang to burst out of the wall with red eyes and flaming hair, as she rapidly closed the distance between them. Snapping out of her stunned daze and unable to reload fast enough Red semblanced out of the way and appeared behind Yang, hitting her with an overhead slash from Crescent Rose. She quickly darted away as Yang threw a punch in retaliation, Red was shocked to see the one punch destroy part of the stage, 'what's going on that was stronger than all the other attacks earlier.' Diving out of the way of another punch Red felt something grab her cloak before she was slammed into the ground, causing her vision to go blurry for a couple of seconds. Unfortunately these couple of seconds were all that Yang needed as she picked up Red and threw her across the stage into the wall.
"You noticed huh?" commented Yang as she approached, her hair getting brighter by the second.
Red coughed as she struggled to her feet, "your punches are getting stronger the more I hit you," she observed.
Yang nodded looking impressed, "did you know there are many different forms of energy, and the force behind a blow is kinetic energy. So you tell me how am I getting stronger?" she quizzed.
A look of understanding crossed Red's face as she gripped Crescent Rose tighter, "you can absorb some of the kinetic energy behind your opponent's hits and use it to power yourself up. Your flames aren't your semblance they're just a by-product of the process as your body quite literally burns off the excess energy that it has stored up from previous fights as heat and light energy. Essentially with each hit you get stronger and you use that energy to fight back," answered Red.
Yang's eyes widened in surprise and she began clapping, "impressive you even figured out how my flames and hair work but now I think it's time for both of us to stop holding back," she said, slamming her fists together.
Red gasped as the flames surrounding Yang disappeared and her hair began to glow brighter than the sun. Acting quickly Red charged the brawler attempting to use her superior speed to catch the blonde by surprise, only to have Yang grab her by the head.
"I told you to stop holding back and I was serious, or are you really just this weak," growled Yang before punching her in the gut and dropping her on the ground.
"Pathetic, you expect to be able to go home with this kind of strength? Such a disappointment, I wonder what your family would say if they saw you now," scoffed the blonde, walking away.
"Um… don't you think Yang's taking this too far," said Jaune concerned.
"Indeed she was already in the red before Yang did that, she's already won the fight," agreed Ren.
"Why isn't the professor stopping this?" questioned Blake.
All of them nodded in agreement as they watched Yang proceed to beat up her opponent, all of them even Weiss feeling sympathy for the poor girl. Their jaw dropped however as they watched Ruby slowly stagger up and grab Crescent Rose, her body beginning to glow a very dark red instead of the bright vibrant shade they were used to.
"H-How is she standing she barely has enough aura to move," stuttered Pyrrha in shock.
"P-Pyrrha look at her aura levels," said Jaune.
They all looked up at the screen and for the second time in the space of five minutes their jaws hit the floor.
"T-That's not possible," choked out Weiss.
The entire classroom was silent as they watched the screen unable to comprehend what they were seeing, Ruby's aura was increasing at a rapid rate, and already it was back up to yellow.
"There's no way, aura can't regenerate that fast," said Pyrrha.
They watched as Ruby began to steady herself on her scythe and Yang turned around to face her with a pleased look on her face, a sharp contrast to the look of rage on Ruby's. Then all hell broke loose.
"… I wonder what your family would say if they saw you now."
Red was angry, no she wasn't angry she was fucking furious. 'I'm going to make her pay,' she thought as she struggled to get up. 'Come on move god damn it move!' her body aching in protest. Swaying she slowly picked herself up from the ground and grabbed Crescent Rose as the pain began to fade. Grasping the scythe she walked over to Yang, dragging the blade along the floor. Hearing the noise the blonde turned to look back at her with a pleased grin.
"See I knew you could do it, now let's start the real fight," she cheered.
Red didn't respond and just snarled at her, disappearing in a flash of rose petals. In the space of a few seconds Red grabbed Yang's hair and yanking down on it hard before head butting the blonde in the forehead followed by a kick into the stomach and the firing of Crescent Rose at point blank range. Each blow was accompanied by a flash of red as her aura empowered the hit, causing Yang to stagger. The blonde wasn't stunned for long though as she grabbed the scythe as it was coming in for another swing, seeing this Red activated the electricity trap expecting to see her scream in pain like last time. Instead she got a painful punch to the face as Yang retaliated. Recovering quickly Red looked at her scythe wondering what went wrong, Yang just smiled.
"What the hell was that!" exclaimed Jaune in shock.
"Ruby's ace up her sleeve, she modified Crescent Rose to electrocute anyone who touches it. Worst of all it can travel down your weapon, that's how she beat me and Yang," explained Blake.
"I didn't know dust could do that," remarked Ren impressed.
"That's because it can't," replied the heiress. Seeing their confused expression she elaborated, "yellow dust utilizes the power of lightning, it is one of the most powerful of all dust types but also one of the most unstable."
She paused to look at Ruby before continuing, "Somehow she's managed to stabilize it so that she could control the output and recognize her aura as friendly, something the Schnee family has failed to do for years," she said with barely concealed envy.
"So then why didn't it work?" asked Jaune curious.
Weiss turned to Jaune in surprise, "you really can't figure it out? You dolt, fine I'll explain it for you then," she grumbled, turning back to watch the fight.
"Hey did you know what our practice rounds are made of?" asked Yang still smirking.
Red looked up from her scythe understanding dawning in her eyes, "rubber rounds, you really did think of everything," she grudgingly admitted.
Yang nodded before wiping sweat from her eyes, "I don't have much left and you're barely staying up right, what do you say we finish this with one final attack?" she offered.
"Fine it's your funeral," growled Red getting up.
Yang's face immediately became serious and her hair glowing so bright it was almost blinding, her body wreathed in the yellow glow of her aura and a pillar of flames erupting around her. Red reactivated her scythe as a massive sphere of crackling blue electricity surrounded her. Inside the blue sphere the students saw a red light growing brighter by the second. Yang looked briefly surprised before smiling as the two began charging at the other and thus the two unstoppable forces collided with one another. The yellow fiery sun meeting the deceptively calming blue-red storm with a flash of blinding light, the TV and lights shattering and the students being blown off their feet. The light pulsed as each force tried to overcome the other until finally it died down and the students looked up to see Yang standing over her opponent panting.
"Cardin wasn't… lying you… really are fiercely… protective," she panted. Looking down at her unconscious form Yang smiled, "congratulations you pass."
The fight was all the school talked about for over a week and quite frankly Yang was getting sick of it. Since everyone had decided that Yang was safer than her counterpart she was pestered by many 'adoring fans.' Yang smiled at the irony of the situation people were coming to her because she was the safer of the two now, 'if this was how Ruby felt she has my sympathy.' Yang heard the sound of running coming down from the halls, spinning around she saw a worried Blake approaching her.
"Yang we got a problem Ruby's missing! She left her scroll on the bed and hasn't shown up for any classes," she said exhausted.
Yang frowned, sure she wasn't as welcomed here as others but she wouldn't run away again, would she? Her eyes widened, 'wait a minute how could I forget! Today is the anniversary,' she realized.
"Don't worry Blake I think I know where she is," she assured the Faunus before running down to the docks.
Red walked into the clearing as snow began falling as she approached the cliff, a bouquet of roses in her hands. Slowly she knelt before the grave and placed the roses in front of the tombstone, getting up she just stared at the grave not really sure what to do.
"Um… hi I know you probably don't know me but I wanted to see you, my name is… well I guess you can just call me Red," she introduced awkwardly.
Taking a deep breath she continued tears forming around her eyes, "I'v - I've done some terrible things and I don't think I'll ever be able to completely wash the blood off my hands."
Red fell down to the ground sobbing, "I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry for everything. I never wanted any of this I swear, I just wanted to go home," she whimpered.
Red felt someone embrace her from behind, "you know they say that home is where the heart is," soothed a familiar voice.
Red didn't try to break free from the hug and instead cried into Yang's shoulder, the blonde just stroked her hair, "it's okay just let it out," she comforted.
Eventually the tears stopped and Yang let go of Red and made her way over to the grave noting the flowers, "roses were always her favourite," she said approvingly.
"We used to make this trip every year you know, Ruby was the one who suggested it. Then things started getting busy and we had to stop coming. But Ruby never stopped every birthday, every anniversary she would come here and tell her all about it, every time she had a problem she'd come here to ask for help," explained Yang not looking up from the grave.
Red joined her as they stared at the grave in silence, broken only by the rustling of leaves in the wind, "I'm sorry for everything I've done to you especially for what I said earlier, you didn't deserve it," apologized Yang.
Red flinched, "no you were right my family would be horrified by what I've done, I've killed Yang, KILLED!," she choked out holding back the tears.
Yang threw an arm around Red's shoulder, "So? Your past doesn't define who you are, it just gives you the starting point for who you're going to be," consoled the blonde.
The brawler gave her a smile, "listen I should have said this a long time ago, welcome to the family Ruby Rose."
Red froze and looked up at the smiling blonde, "are… are you sure?" she asked in disbelief.
Yang nodded, "only Ruby would do something like this and whether I like it or not she lives on inside you, I've seen it."
The blonde turned back to the grave, "besides I think this is what she'd want."
Red was shocked and looked at Yang as the snow continued to fall and the wind began picking up, the older sibling smiled and grabbed her hand.
"Come on sis we'd better get back we don't want Ozpin getting worried now do we," she said, dragging a stunned Red.
"Thanks… sis," replied Red, unable to keep tears back any longer.
As the two walked away nether noticed a white cloaked figure near the grave watching them, smiling the figure began to dissolved into thin air leaving not a trace behind.
Well how did you like it? I decided to send the arc out with a Yang! (I'm sorry I couldn't help it). Also I pretty much promised you all Yang vs Red battle and I keep my promises besides that last one was a bit anti-climatic. Also out of curiosity what has been your favourite chapter so far and why? For me it was a toss up between this one (I loved writing Yang as the Balrog) and chapter 9 with Cardin and Red. It's weird I actually hate Cardin in the show but I really enjoy writing him in the story... go figure huh.