Author's Note:
Hi everyone! I'm back! Thanks for sticking with me even though I sort of disappeared there for a while, but I promise there is more on the way. I just need to look over it before I get it up here.
So I was originally going to put this chapter off for a while but when I heard of international dance day, logically I remembered I left you hanging on the edge of a fight. So... let's dance!... Or read, whatever works for you. But regardless, enjoy! And more to come soon!
"Come on!" Blake said urgently, standing from her seat.
"Where are we going?" Weiss asked.
"Yang's in trouble, and I think I know why." She replied as she headed for the door.
"But we have a ton of work to do." Weiss argued.
"It'll be here when you get back." Ruby replied, pulling Weiss to her feet.
Blake ran down the stairs, leading her teammates while typing directions into her scroll. Ruby looked down at hers to see her sister's aura ever so slowly draining, the clear indicator that she was far beyond angry. She was furious.
A small window popped up in front of Ruby's readouts asking to allow the summoning of the entire team's lockers. She approved it as Blake burst out of the dorm's doors and into a large crowd.
"Then come and get it!" Yang yelled as a wave of heat pushed the crowd back a step with a wave of burning air.
"As you wish." Winter leapt forward with her saber, aiming a slash at Yang who blocked it with one arm and punched with the other. Winter blocked the hit with a small amount of aura and separated from her opponent who was slowly following her retreat.
Winter pulled the dagger out of the hilt of her weapon, spinning them both and halting just as Yang came within range.
Yang jumped forward quickly as Winter countered her melee attacks with her blades. Winter spun quickly, putting herself back on the offensive. And stabbed her weapons at varying places around Yang's body.
Surprisingly, Yang caught every attack and knocked them aside. Winter watched as Yang threw a punch to her head and ducked as she lashed out with a large slashing attack. The attack hit Yang but her aura took the full hit. Yang fell back, sliding through slush until she came to a stop five meters away.
"Not bad…" Yang grunted as she got back up and shook the clinging ice from her gauntlets. "But my sister could hit harder when she was five."
Yang glanced to the crowd to see Ruby and Weiss standing by with Blake as the two opponents faced off once again.
Winter seemed to move faster than before, and Yang couldn't help but laugh as Winter rained down blows only to have Yang block every one.
"You don't get it, do you? My sister's semblance is speed!" Yang laughed as Winter placed a large gap between them. "If you've got nothing but what you've shown so far, you might as well quit now."
"I'll kill you." Winter spoke quietly, but in the silent courtyard, every one of the spectators heard the promise.
At the side, Weiss was gripping Ruby's hand tightly. She had never seen her sister so possessed, and full of hate as she was at that moment. But she felt the tension between the two fighters escalate in their silent battle of wills.
"Then let's dance, beautiful." Yang taunted her as she settled into her kick-boxing stance and cocked one of her gauntlets to eject an empty shell.
Winter lunged forward again, Weiss took notice of the barely visible glyph below her and she realized Winter was using her semblance. It wasn't as useful as Weiss's, since it could only boost speed, but it could be effective when Winter used it correctly.
Winter hit Yang hard, her left gauntlet's plating denting on the impact and crushing the transformation mechanism. Yang dodged the smaller dagger and brought her knee up into Winter's stomach. Winter took the hit with her aura and spun away, her blades dragging against Yang's fists and creating small sparks for five whole seconds before she moved back on the offensive. Winter used her glyphs to move under Yang's hits and take down her aura with small slices to her abdomen that her aura immediately healed.
"Yang!" Ruby yelled from the sidelines. "Hit back!"
"Right." Yang yelled back, not too concerned about the advice. First, she needed to learn Winter's attack pattern, and that meant creating openings. Yang's thought process was interrupted as she felt her aura reach the breaking point and moved so Winter was forced to hit her with the hilt of her blade.
Yang went limp as she was thrown back by the blow. Sure, she got scraped up as she dropped her aura's protective shield, but the ice cold slush helped clear her head. She remained on the ground as she faked her recovery from her fall, which she knew looked worse than it was.
Weiss looked down at her scroll and saw that Yang's aura was as low as she'd ever seen it. It was at the very last few percent, but holding stable. She looked up to find her sister walking slowly over to the downed brawler and a horrible premonition made her call out.
"Stop!" Winter stopped and looked over at Weiss. Ruby's eyes were on Yang who smiled, and gave a small thumbs up while her opponent was distracted.
"I must finish this duel, Weiss." Winter spoke calmly. "It's for your own good."
"No!" Weiss protested, taking steps away from the crowd and leaving Ruby with Blake. "Just walk away, it's over."
"I promised her death, Weiss." Winter spoke, still no emotion. "A Schnee never goes back on her word."
"You're wrong!" Weiss shouted. "Before I left for Beacon, I made a promise to become a huntress. I made that promise to keep my family safe!"
"Then killing her won't have any effect." Winter shrugged and turned back to Yang. She sheathed the dagger into the hilt of the saber as she did so.
"She's my sister!" Weiss argued, freezing Winter to her spot.
"She is no such thing." Winter replied icily, without turning. "You would do well to remember that."
Yang slowly pushed herself to her feet and faced down Winter.
"Step back, Weiss. You don't want to get in my way." Winter said sadly as she watched Yang like a hawk.
"But-"
"Do what she says." Yang ordered, spitting some blood from her mouth before smiling at Winter.
"I'm surprised you're still able to stand, but it's of no matter. You won't be doing anything soon enough." Winter started her approach and Yang simply stood there, casually watching her with raised eyebrows.
"This is where I'm supposed to say something along the lines of 'spare me,' right?" Yang asked calmly. It was a calm that was just as emotionally detached as Winter, and there were only three people in that courtyard that knew why. Yang knew she had already won.
"If that is your wish, then you'll take your sister and leave." Winter ordered, stopping just out of range of a strike.
Yang looked up at the sky as she spoke. "Oh look! What's that?"
Yang mimed catching something and unwrapping it behind her hand. Winter watched in confusion at Yang's theatrics as she fiddled with her fingers and turned her hand. She removed her shielding hand and gave Winter the middle finger.
"It's the flying fuck I don't give." Yang laughed as Winter let out a bellow of rage at being distracted by her opponent's childish humor.
Winter's attack came crashing down at Yang who caught the blade in her armored hand. Yang squeezed her hand shut and the blade shattered to small fragments as the fighter kicked her semblance into action. Winter drew the dagger out of the useless weapon's hilt and attempted a stab only to have her wrist kicked by Yang, making the dagger fly off into the snow across the courtyard.
Winter backed off as Yang approached.
"Because you're Weiss's sister, I'll let you off easy." Yang stated, disengaging the locks on her gauntlets and letting them drop to the ground as she walked. "But this will still hurt you… a hell of a lot more than it'll hurt me."
Weiss watched as Yang effortlessly landed a knee to Winter's stomach, making her double over as the air was forced from her lungs even though her aura absorbed most of the blow. She watched as Yang kicked her feet out from under her, making her land on her knees, and she did nothing but watch as Yang landed a perfectly executed ax kick to her sister's head that landed her in the snow, most likely unconscious. She watched because Winter had tried to get rid of Yang and by extension, Ruby. And she found that she wasn't at all upset about it.
Yang apparently thought the fight was over too, and turned back to the group as Winter struggled to her feet.
"You think you've won? You bitch!" Winter screamed, using her semblance to rush at Yang. Yang turned just in time to catch Winter on her forearm, but her hand had already curled into her hair. Yang pushed Winter off and she tumbled with her momentum and came to a stop on her feet. In her right hand, a small clump of golden hair.
"You shouldn't have done that." Yang spoke darkly as she approached Winter, her hair seemingly alive like flame.
Winter was oblivious to the danger she'd just put herself in and took a boxing stance.
Yang came within range and she threw a punch that Yang easily dodged and a second one that hit Yang's shoulder. Yang simply walked through the punch as if she hadn't even felt it.
"Sweet dreams, Princess." Yang smiled, her eyes glowing dark red as she unleashed a punch that sent Winter flying through the air and then through the walls of the distant building that housed the school's administrative offices.
Yang looked around at the crowd who was just turning back from watching Winter fly fifty meters before punching through three solid brick walls without losing an inch of altitude. They looked back at her with looks of fear and respect and in the case of her teammates, grim approval.
"Someone should probably make sure she's alive." Yang spoke tiredly to the crowd and after a moment of muttering, a team of four walked away to where Winter was still lying as the rest of the crowd started to disperse.
Weiss approached Yang and stopped, lost for what words she could use to convey her thoughts. Ruby was at her side supportively and Blake came around to let her lean on her shoulder. She noticed for the first time that all three were armed with their weapons.
"Sorry about busting up your sister." Yang apologized with a cough. "That last hit might have been a bit hard."
"I wouldn't worry too much." Weiss replied. "Just because she's smart, it doesn't mean her skull isn't thicker than yours."
Yang smiled and opened her arms, releasing Blake. "Come here."
Weiss hesitated, but then Ruby pushed her forwards into Yang's arms. The hug was crushing, but it somehow felt comforting. Weiss returned the hug after a moment and then felt Ruby and Blake join in.
"We're your family now." Yang spoke to Weiss. "We'll never force you to do anything you don't want to."
"We won't let you get married either. Unless it's what you want." Ruby added.
Blake nodded in agreement to the other's comments. "Let's go back inside. Yang can rest and we'll get back to work."
"Right." Weiss agreed. She turned and kept one arm wrapped behind Yang as she helped Blake carefully carry her into the building, Ruby walking behind them carrying her sister's gauntlets.
They entered their dorm and placed Yang down on Blake's bed. Yang sighed as she got comfortable, her exhaustion already pulling her to sleep.
"Just go do your thing, I'll let you know when I get up." Yang waved. Ruby and Blake left the room and Weiss hesitated by the door when Yang's wave stopped and she held up a finger. "Hold on a sec!"
"Me?" Weiss asked, still a little surprised by the day's events.
"No, I'm talking to your shadow." Yang rolled her eyes as Weiss came walking back to her bedside.
"Winter said that the way out of the contract was to dump Ruby and move back home. She said stuff about tutors and getting married when you were twenty one." Yang said even as exhaustion pulled at her eyelids. "What are you going to do?"
Weiss paused at the new information. Naturally, she'd have to check it, but she found that the solution was a strong possibility. There was just one problem. "I'm not leaving Ruby, so I'll have to find another way."
"Good to hear." Yang sighed. "Let me know if I can do anything, okay?"
"You've already done enough." Weiss replied. It was still a shock for her to see Yang so defeated after a battle. "Thank you."
Yang smiled and laughed. The laughter turned into a cough almost immediately and Yang sighed as she settled herself back to the bed. "What are big sisters for?"
Weiss left as Yang started snoring, the feeling in her chest the sum of all the emotions that had been swirling around inside her for the last week. Now, she had a reason to work twice as hard to void that damned contract. She had definitely found a new family. Big sisters, indeed.