*White text, tinted around the edge with black, appeared over an open sky.
IF THERE WAS EVER A CHANCE*
"What's with these titles?" Nora questioned.
Oscar looked in deep thought, "Guys, what was the title of the second part?"
Everyone looked at each other. None of them thought that the titles had any significance.
*The text dissipated into sickly black and red petals.*
"I know!" Penny exclaimed, "It was 'If there was ever a time.'."
"So, we had 'If there was ever a time', and now 'If there was ever a chance'."
"Do you think it's trying to form a sentence?" Ilia asked.
"That makes sense," Ruby answers, "Titles for cartoon episodes usually have meaning for the episode. But, what could it be asking us?"
*The view lowered, showing Mountain Glenn in the distance.*
"We should continue watching," Ironwood offered, "And look out for more statements."
Qrow chuckled, "Hard to ignore them, James."
*Yang Xiao Long expects her first mission as a Huntress-in-training to be exciting, full of violence and intrigue and astronomically high stakes.*
Rather than comment on how it lined up with her past self, Yang leaned across the couch, and to Ruby's ear.
"Ruby," she whispered, "Did you notice the title cards? How they disappear?"
"Yeah," Ruby whispered back, "They were flower petals. Like how my Semblance works."
"Right…but why are they black and red? Your petals are all red."
The feeling of unease still lingered, but Ruby could only shrug.
*To her credit, she's one-third right.
"The pack to the north-west is heading our way," Ilia shouts down from her post at the top of an abandoned apartment building. "Seems like someone got too loud and drew their attention."
"Yeah yeah," Yang shouts back, extracting her arm from the hole it had made in some poor Beowolf's chest. "You try fighting these things with guns instead of that fancy whip of yours and see how loud you are."*
Ilia smirked at her screen counterpart.
"I have to say," Winter criticized, "While Miss Xiao Long's weaponry is more…direct, she at least has a range option."
"Says the women who's only option for range is using their semblances." Qrow fired back with a smirk, to which Winter and Weiss both scowled.
'I'm liking this girl more and more.' He thought.
*Still, she makes a mental note to cut back even further on firing Ember Celica. As much as her entire fighting style kind of relies on enhancing her strikes with their shots, Dad had always said that two of the easiest ways for Huntsman to get themselves killed were drawing in more Grimm than they could handle and running out of ammo.
The easiest, she remembers with a strum of pain in her chest, is to fight alone.
She notices movement out of the corner of her eye, a Borbatusk charging at her, and just like that she's out of her head and back in the real world.
She could face it head on, pit its strength against her own and undoubtedly come out on top, but Oobleck had chided her for wasting energy the last time she'd tried that, and reminded her she had to keep this up for the rest of the day.
Now, well into the afternoon, as her muscles ache and each breath gets harder and harder, she can appreciate that wisdom.
So instead she gives Blake a heads up ("Boarbatusk on my left!") and lets her handle it.
Weiss is even kind enough to give her a glyph to push off of as she jumps over the charging Boarbatusk, whose momentum takes it straight into the snaring ribbon of Gambol Shroud. Blake even lets Yang finish off the immobilized creature.
Yang could kiss her. Yang would kiss her, if not for the fact that everyone had looked at her weird all the other times she'd done so today, like a Grimm hunt wasn't the right time for PDA.
Oh, and also their history professor was standing a few feet away.*
"We are not talking about this right now," Blake hurriedly declared, "Moving on!"
Most of her friends laughed at the clearly embarrassed two girls. Ilia herself again felt jealous, but was going to keep it down for the sake of nicety.
*"Another pack so soon?" Oobleck says. "This is, hmm, rather unusual. The reports of high activity indicate something is drawing them here, yes, but then why are they so attracted to us instead of whatever induced them to come here? Yes, very unusual."
By the time he's finished talking, the pack has rounded the block, and look at that it's Beowolves again! She'd almost forgotten what it's like to pummel them into the earth, in the minute or so since she last fought a pack of them.
The saying among professional Huntresses was that you should always hope for a boring mission; but Yang is not yet a pro, and so feels no guilt in wishing for just a little bit of excitement.
Just a little bit.*
*As the day goes on and afternoon turns to evening, they start ramping down their pursuit of Grimm. They still shadow Grimm in search of whatever drew them here, but they take their time and stay as far behind as they can.
The lack of action somehow makes Dr. Oobleck even more talkative.*
"Oh boy," Weiss said, "Wonder how much Yang's answer will change."
"I'm kinda interested in what your friend will answer, Blake."
"I am, too."
*"Why do you want to be a Huntress?" Oobleck asks Weiss. To show the world I am better than my father.
"Why do you want to be a Huntress?" Oobleck asks Ilia. To fight injustice whenever I see it, not just when someone else says I should.
"Why do you want to be a Huntress?" Oobleck asks Blake. To help the people no one else will.*
"I would say that's pretty on point, wouldn't you say, Ilia?"
Said chameleon faunus nodded.
"But, let's be honest," Nora chimed in, "We're here for Yang."
*Oobleck, being an emotionally intelligent adult and— once upon a time— a family friend, doesn't ask Yang why she wants to be a Huntress. He knows. Instead, he asks "Why not run away? Why throw yourself into the same danger?" Because someone has to, and it might as well be me. He likes that answer significantly less than her teammates', so Yang corrects it to because I can't save Summer or Ruby, but I can at least make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else.*
Somehow, the solemness in Yang's voice could be felt by everyone. Ruby placed a hand on Yang's shoulder, muttering a quiet comfort to her.
*That seems to abate his curiosity, and not long later he announces they're going to make camp for the night in one of Mountain Glenn's many (so, so many) abandoned buildings.
They draw sticks to decide night watch shifts, and Yang's unlucky enough to draw last. Unlike the others, she won't get to nap after her shift.
For all the excitement beforehand, this was shaping up to be a real wet fart of a mission. At least it would be over soon.*
Jaune gave a mad chuckle, "Well, Yang, you might get your wish when Salem's weapon decides to drop by."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it."
*The words, "Yang, wake up," are an affront to her sleeping mind, the hand shaking her shoulder even more. It takes a while to remember where she is, why she isn't in her bed at Beacon, why someone's waking her up in the middle of the night.
It passes far too quickly, and before she knows it she's sitting on the edge of the roof and staring out into the ruins.
She wishes she could say the minutes pass swiftly, but that would be a lie. They pass agonizingly slow, leaving her with nothing to do but sit and think and ignore the call of nature.
Maybe she doesn't do that last one for very long, but who could blame her? It's not like there's much to distract herself with.*
"Uh, guys," Ruby exclaimed, "I just realized…Zwei's not here."
WBY all looked surprised.
"That's…not good." Weiss said.
"What do you mean?" Penny replied.
"When Yang had her shift, Zwei ran out to go to the bathroom, and I ran after him. It's because of him that we learned of the White Fang's base. Without him, who knows if we'd find it."
*Still, that means making her way all the way down the building and finding something resembling a bush. It's not that much more interesting, but down here she can at least smell the smells and hear the sounds. Sounds of grass rustling in the wind, of faraway Grimm howling at the moon, of low sounds she could just barely make out as words—
Now that's not normal. Quickly finishing her business, Yang creeps towards the source of the noise.*
"Or, Yang, in her laziness, stumbles upon it."
Yang merely smirked, crossing her arms behind her head. "Don't you love it, Ice Queen."
*Theoretically, it could be someone totally innocent. Maybe some explorer took a wrong turn, or an airship crashed in the area, but in all likelihood an innocent civilian would be dead within a few hours of arriving here.
They were here in the first place because there'd been reports of increased Grimm activity for the past week, and if someone was hanging around here for that long they would have to be able to hold their own.*
"Wait, that line," Blake exclaims, "Does that mean we don't know the White Fang are possibly here? And that means this is going to be a complete accident when we find them?"
"Unlikely," Ironwood countered, "I doubt that the official mission would list the White Fang, for fear of tipping them off."
Blake relaxed, remembering that that is what happened originally.
*All of this meant that, as Yang got closer to whoever was talking, she didn't call out or ask who was there.
Rather, she hid behind the ruins of someone's home and listened as closely as she could.
The voice is deep and rough, like a broadsword being dragged across a stone floor. "Patrol the perimeter. Kill intruders. Return when sun rises. Patrol the perimeter. Kill intruders. Return when sun rises. Patrol—"
So there were bad guys up to something!
A part of Yang wants to rush in guns blazing and drag whoever this was back to her team, but she squashes it. Better to get everyone together than to start a fight by herself.*
Qrow nodded with approval. This timeline's Yang learned to not rush in much earlier. Even at the Vytal Festival, their Yang was much more Gung-ho. It seemed…well, that event made Yang reconsider her fighting priorities.
*Still, it couldn't hurt to get a look at whoever's talking, check if they're White Fang or not. They probably are, but Blake and Ilia will appreciate the certainty.
Peering around the edge of her cover, Yang glances at the street before her and sees— shit, a Grimm.
It's about the size of a Beowolf, maybe a bit bigger, but something about the way it moves... Yang's pretty sure it's because it's the dead of night and she has only sparse moonlight to illuminate it, but its skin looks to be flowing all around its body, like oil.*
"That's…not normal," Pietro said, "There aren't any Beowolves that could have a skin texture like that. Or any Grimm of that type."
"So it might be Salem's new Grimm." Ironwood deducted.
*It must have snuck up on whoever the Fang have on night patrol, she decides. If it starts chewing on him, does she intervene? The smart thing would be staying incognito, but White Fang or not she didn't become a Huntress to let someone get mauled to death right in front of her.*
"Now, hold on, James," Qrow rebutted, "We aren't entirely sure. I've seen some weird Grimm in the wild, nothing that could constitute Salem holding it back."
"I'm just being cautious, Qrow."
*Unless the guy hid, because she still can't find him—*
"How can you be so sure, Jimmy, that-"
*And then the Grimm opens its mouth.
"Patrol the perimeter. Kill intruders. Return when sun rises."*
The room went deathly silent at what they just saw.
"W-What?" Jaune muttered.
"Did that Grimm just-" Winter questioned.
*That can't be right.
"Patrol the perimeter. Kill intruders. Return when sun rises."*
"What the hell?!" Nora and Ilia cried out.
"That can't be right?!" Weiss tried to deny it.
"Weiss," Ruby replied, "Unless my ears are broken-"
"Then they're broken!"
*Grimm can't talk.
"Patrol the perimeter. Kill intruders. Return when sun rises."*
"S-So," Ren stated, "This is Salem's new weapon. An intelligent Grimm."
"I can see why she'd keep it hold up," Maria added, "If it can talk, then it can likely strategize. And a Grimm that can think strategy would be a very dangerous foe. More dangerous than even the Leviathan that attacked Argus."
"Wait," Winter deadpanned, "What attacked Argus?"
"Focus on the screen, young one."
*Grimm can't fucking talk. Even the oldest and most intelligent of them are only as smart as some animals, they can't approach anything like speech.
"Patrol the perimeter. Kill intruders. Return when sun rises."*
"Yang," Qrow yelled, "You need to get out of there now!"
"Well, what do you want me to do? If it is as smart as we're implying, then, if I run, it'll hear me and chase me down!"
*And yet, only a few feet away from her, a creature of Grimm is opening its mouth and reciting— what exactly? They sound like orders to Yang, but that would mean a whole bunch of things she really isn't ready to consider.
"Patrol the perimeter. Kill intruders. Return when sun rises. Watch out for; nosy huntresses."
She can think about this later. Right now she needs to retreat, get back to her team and alert them to the sentient fucking Grimm patrolling the area. If it can talk, who knows what else it can do?
"Nosy huntresses are; Ice queen, and; Kitty cat, and; Lizard girl, and..."
Slowly, knowing full well the wrong step may spell disaster, Yang turns around and gingerly places one foot in front of the other, hyper-aware of every noise she makes, from the soft scratch of her boots on pavement to the slightest creak of her bones.
"Yang."*
"Uh, what?" Jaune deadpanned.
"Why nicknames for the rest of us," Ilia questioned, "But not Yang?"
"Roman called me that nickname, it's not hard to see why he'd call Blake and Ilia by those names. He is working with the White Fang, but why not give Yang a nickname?"
*Yang can't help herself. She stumbles, muscles reflexively clenching as she puts all her weight on a stick she'd otherwise been prepared to avoid.*
"Crap!" Nora cried out.
"Yang, why would a Grimm, especially one that talks, be told your name?"
"I don't know, Ruby!"
*It knows her name. How?
Before she has time to consider that, a new problem presents itself; the Grimm, previously content to wander aimlessly, has ceased its aimless pacing and its footsteps are now heading in her direction.
It hasn't seen her, Yang's pretty sure, but it must have heard her. It's also, she notices, stopped talking.
It's difficult, walking the fine line between making haste and not alerting it further, but Yang's always had a good sense of balance; she ducks around the corner just as she hears the Grimm's claws scrape against the concrete street.
She doesn't dare move, back pressed against the wall, heart pounding its way out of her chest.
It's just a Grimm, she tells herself. There's no reason to be afraid, you've killed dozens, hundreds of things just like it.
Except, of course, that none of the Grimm she's faced before had been this.
It steps closer to her, sniffing something, and Yang can feel the slightest brush of warm air against her arm.*
No one spoke a word, almost like they were there, with Screen Yang.
*"Yaaaang," It... whines feels like a word that should not be associated with creatures of Grimm, but she can't think of anything else to describe the way its gravelly voice rises. "Remember how Yang smells; here! Hiding from me. Playing hide and seek again, Yang?"*
"Yang," Blake questioned, "Could you have met that Grimm before?"
"..."
"Yang?"
"What the hell?"
The words were so low, only her faunus traits allowed her to hear them. Blake turned, and saw that Yang was petrified, and it was Ruby who said those words.
'I've…I've never seen them so scared.'
*Yang wants to say something, wants to scream and shout, but there's something in her throat. She can't breathe.
"Are you under the table?"*
"Girls," Blake asked, "What's wrong?"
The sudden concern drew nearby people. Qrow placed a hand on Yang's shoulder.
"Hey, kiddo. Come on, Yang, you're scaring me…more."
"What the hell?" Ruby repeated, almost like her brain couldn't comprehend what she was seeing. Blake was about to say something, when her ears twitched. Then she went wide eyed. The Grimm's voice…it was heavily distorted, but there was an air of familiarity to it. And that led to a dark thought.
*It's so close now, close enough she can feel every breath, but she can barely find it in herself to be scared of the Grimm. What it's saying is so much worse.
"Are you in the cupboard?"*
"Yo!" Nora cried out, "You two are REALLY starting to scare me!"
"Nora's right," Weiss added, "Did you learn something about this creature?"
"Friend Ruby," Penny exclaimed, having gotten up, moved to the couch, and was on her knees trying to get Ruby's attention, "Please tell us what's wrong."
*This can't be real. It can't be happening, she must have dozed off while on night watch. It's just a dream, something her sleep-addled mind came up with because visiting home not two days ago reminded her of when she and Ruby were kids. That has to be it.*
Jaune was about to join in when his face turned to one of confusion. 'The creature knowing Yang? Having met her before? Hide and seek?' His face turned to absolute dread.
"You've got to be kidding me."
When Jaune said those words, Ironwood responded, "Do you know what's going on with them?"
"Yeah...And it's worse than we could've imagined."
*"Or are you in the chimney?"*
At the word 'chimney', everyone fell silent, as they slowly turned to the screen. They remembered how Yang said that she and Ruby would play hide and seek.
And Ruby liked to hide in the chimney.
"Oh…oh." Maria muttered.
*Bone-white armor over ink-black flesh peers around the corner. From this close, she can see its flesh looks more like mud than skin, bubbling and shifting in ways nothing living should. Bright silver eyes meet purple, and deep inside Yang can't help but think those eyes are familiar.*
"Silver-" Yang wheezed out, the words failing her. Penny put her hands over her mouth in horror.
That Grimm, somehow, someway…was Ruby.
*"Found you," It says, sing-song voice still far too deep, and Yang has half a second to cling onto her delusion of dreaming before it pounces.
Jaws aimed for her head close around her arm instead, aura coming up just in time to keep her limb intact, and the Grimm responds by yanking it so hard she goes flying.*
"HOLY CRAP!" Nora was expecting a jump scare, but the knowledge that Screen Ruby was turned into a Grimm made her forget that detail. So, when it actually came, it scared the fuck out of her. Enough that she jumped out of her chair, and grappled onto the nearest thing. Unfortunately, this turned out to be Ren's torso. The sudden weight caused both of them to tumble out of the chair and onto the floor.
"Yang!" Blake cried out seeing Screen Yang get tossed into the air, knocking both her and Ruby out of their petrification.
"Ruby-!"
"I know, Sis!"
*"Yang! Intruder! Yang! Kill intruders!" Yang's slow to get to her feet, knees shaking and head swimming. The things it was saying don't make sense, can't make sense; remembering her scent, playing hide and seek, it's crazy talk. Babble. It has to be, or else…*
"Yang Xiao Long," Winter exclaimed, "You aren't crazy, we're hearing the same thing!"
"Human Grimm hybrid," Pietro muttered in abject horror, "James, did you know this?"
"I once asked Ozpin if such a thing was possible. He said there wasn't-"
"Looks like another thing he lied about."
Maria's mechanical eyes widened. "I don't think so, Qrow."
"What do you mean?"
*She first realizes it's attacking again when it stops talking, and shortly therafter sends her crashing through a house. She only realizes her chest hurts when drawing breath nearly sends her into a coughing fit, ribs aching with every wheeze.*
"Normal people would likely die from such a process. But, silver eyed warriors like me and your niece, well…"
Qrow snarled, "Fuck."
*She has to get her team, she realizes. She can't focus, can't do this on her own. She scrambles to her feet, every gasp of breath bringing a new wave of pain, but she only makes it a few steps before an enormous weight crashes onto her back.*
"Yang," Jaune exclaimed, "You need to run!"
Neither Yang or Ruby could bear to say anything. How could they? How could you possibly react to seeing yourself/your sister being turned into a Grimm, and being forced to fight your sister?
*"Sorry Yang. Have to. Orders. Why intruder? Why nosy huntress?"*
"So some part of Ruby has to be in there," Ren exclaimed, latching onto hope, "Right?"
Ruby could only give a glimmer of hope, before returning to the screen.
*Its paw closes around her torso, lifting her up, and Yang's moving before it can do whatever it's planning, legs frantically kicking against its face while she fires her gauntlets.
It breaks the Grimm's grip on her, and Yang's scrambling away too quickly to stand, up firing shots in its general direction as she does.
Only one of them hits the Grimm, but it seems to rattle the creature. "Meanie!" It screeches, paw flying to where it was hit. "Daaad, Yang hurt me!"
"Shut up!* "Shut up!" Yang matched her screen self. Her voice wasn't as hoarse as the screen's, but that's understandable. She didn't go for an entire year thinking her sister was dead, only to find out that she's not only alive, but turned into a fucking Grimm.
*"Shut up shut up shut up!"
She keeps firing, shot after shot, but she can't aim for shit. Her chest feels like it's on fire and her vision's blurry; she's crying, she realizes.
The Grimm has no such problem, advancing at a languid pace. "No cry Yang. All okay. See?"
Its liquidy skin bubbles and shifts, and shards of metal fall out of it. Bullets from Ember Celica.*
"Oh, what the hell." Jaune groaned.
"Its skin is highly resistant to bullets," Winter exclaimed, "Which will definitely prove dangerous. Only way to fight it would be up close, or with highly explosive rounds."
"Could you not so casually talk about how to kill my niece!?"
Winter flinched. "I'm sorry, that was wrong of me."
Meanwhile, Ruby's eyes caught onto a small detail from the bullets. Or, rather, what was next to the bullets that fell.
*The bullets aren't the only thing that fall out; flakes of flesh come off as well, floating to the ground. They look like—
They look like…
On her hands and knees, Yang crawls over, uncaring of the monster above her. Tears still dripping down, she closes a shaking hand around a group of flakes. She has to get a better look at them, to make sure they're what she thinks they are, because if she's right then—
She doesn't dare think about if she's right, or even about what she's considering. She can't afford to jinx it.*
"Yang," Ruby said, "I know that it would be impossible, but you-"
"I'm not running. Not from this."
*"Good as new," says the Grimm. "Okay? Won't tell dad. Won't tell uncle—"
"Get away from her!"*
"Yes!" Weiss exclaimed, launching her arms into the air, "Calvary's here."
"Yeah," Ilia countered, "But, how likely is it that we'll end up killing your friend's sister?"
Said arms dropped like rocks.
*There's gunshots from somewhere far away, and the sound of blades tearing through flesh, and the Grimm retreats. There's more voices afterwards, and more gunshots and sounds of fighting, but Yang can't bring herself to care.
It's an exertion of will, prying her fingers open, like her body's rebelling. She understands, because once her hand is open she sees, clear as day—
Petals.
Rose petals.*
"The title cards," Ruby said, "They shattered into black petals. The same petals that are coming off of…Grimm Me."
"Godsdamnit." Qrow muttered, hand on his face. If there was ever a time to quit drinking, it just had to be now, didn't it?
"Ruby," Penny said, still at Ruby's knees, "That won't happen to you, will it?"
Ruby's eyes turned to shock. "That Faunus, Tyrian. He said that Salem wanted me aliv-"
Penny's eyes narrowed. "Nope," She pulled Ruby into a hug, "Your good friend Penny won't let that happen."
Yang joined in on the hug, Ruby putting her hands around both. "You got that right, Penny. Salem will get you over my dead body."
Blake and Weiss joined in on the hug. Whatever happened, they'd die before letting Salem take her.
*Black as night, but Yang knows those rose petals. She can barely feel her fingers, but she knows how they feel rubbing against her skin.
Ruby had shed those petals since the day she unlocked her semblance.
"Oh." Yang says to herself. "Fuck."*
"I do think we can agree on that, Miss Xiao Long."
"Not sure if I should say thanks, General." Yang replied as the group hug ended.
*Because if that thing is shedding them, it means that thing is Ruby. Her little sister.
Ruby's alive.
Ruby's a Grimm.
Suddenly, everything makes sense; or rather, nothing makes sense anymore. How did this happen? Who did this to her? On the other hand, everything about the Grimm— it knowing her name, knowing where Ruby hid every time they played hide and seek, the fact that it could talk at all— made sense now.
Because somewhere in that monster is her little sister.*
"Okay, I know our Cinder didn't do it," Nora exclaimed, "Buuuuut I feel like make her pay even more now!"
"Get in line. Assuming I leave anything left of her."
"Firecracker, there won't be anything but a smear on the ground when your uncle's done with her."
*Yang has to— Yang doesn't know what she has to do. But she has to do something. She has to—
"Yang!"
Someone calls her names, and Yang feels something crash into her side, and then the world is nothing but noise and movement and pain.*
"Oh, right," Weiss yelled, "Yang, you might want to help your team."
*When she opens her eyes, she's laying on her side. Her team is fighting the Grimm (not Ruby, not when she's still a monster) with everything they've got.
They look haggard, hair loose and skin slick with sweat, but the Grimm doesn't look much better. It's hunched over, a paw held over an area on its stomach, and it moves with a noticeable limp.
At first, Yang thinks Dr. Oobleck is nowhere to be found; until she glances beside her and sees him unconscious on the ground. Something's wrong with his leg, though her gaze doesn't linger long enough to figure out what.
"Intruders. Kill intruders. Nosy huntresses? Too many." The Grimm's not speaking like Ruby anymore, thankfully. Yang isn't sure she could handle it if it did.
Yang rises to her feet. Everyone turns to look at her.
"Yang," Blake says. "You're okay?"
Yang's halfway through nodding when she pauses, reconsiders, and shakes her head. "No, I'm— look, this is going to sound insane but—"
Abruptly, there's a sickening crunch from the Grimm.*
Everyone flinched at the sound.
"Okay," Ilia said, "Who just got killed?"
"Ilia!"
"What? I'm just speaking the truth, Blake."
*Yang whips her head over, expecting to see it doing something to her teammates, but instead it's hunched over, and—
Wings, wings, erupt from its back, a shade of red that makes Yang sick to her stomach, Grimm goop and dead petals scattering all around it.*
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Jaune yelled.
"W-What a terrifying idea," Pietro stuttered, "The ability to modify its body for its own needs. Salem truly is creative."
"Are you praising the monster who turned my sister-!"
"No, Miss Xiao Long," Ironwood interrupted, "However, if you don't acknowledge your enemies abilities, and if you don't respect them, you're in for one surprise after another."
*Before Yang can say anything, it's moving. Up into the air, away from her.
It takes Yang a second to understand that it's running away.
In an instant, every thought is replaced with panic. That thing is Ruby, her little sister, and if it gets away from her she may never see it again. She cannot let it escape.
It starts flying away, and Yang sprints after it. Every thud of her boots on concrete sends a shudder up through her legs, but she can't let it bother her. She has to follow the Grimm.
"Yang, wait!" Blake's chasing after her, she realizes. "What are you doing?"
"It's my sister!" Yang shouts, panting. "She's alive! That Grimm, it's her!"*
Weiss was about to admonish Yang, saying along the lines of 'Your teammates might need a better explanation than that!', but, frankly, given the circumstances, she'd probably have done the same thing if it was Winter. She was glad that Screen Blake was chasing after her.
*Her muscles burn and her lungs feel like they're going to explode, but she can't stop, can't slow down, has to keep going.
The Grimm is barely visible, blending perfectly into the night sky with the exception of its rose-red wings. Ever so slowly, it's getting further and further away.
"Yang, please!" Blake is falling behind, still exhausted from the fight, but Yang doesn't slow down. Can't slow down. "This is insane!"
"I know," Yang shouts back. "You just have to trust me."
There's a pause before Blake says, "Okay. Okay. I trust you."
They chase it in silence for what feels like hours but is probably minutes and finally, finally, the Grimm begins to descend. It lands across the block, in front of what looks like any other building if not for the sign at the top marking it as Mountain Glenn Subway Station.
The Grimm yanks the door open and steps inside, not bothering to close the door behind it.*
Add another thing that indicates Grimm Ruby's remaining intelligence. Most Grimm would simply bash through. That…hybrid was able to open doors, even if it was violently.
* Yang's halfway to the building when Blake grabs her arm, skids to a stop, and hisses, "Someone's in there!"
Yang doesn't know what she's talking about, can't understand how Blake could possibly know— until a flick of her cat ears reminds her.
Gingerly, they approach the open door, and Yang presses her face as close to the opening as she dares. Straining, she can faintly hear a familiar voice.
"What the fuck happened to you?" says the unmistakable voice of Roman Torchwick.*
"Go figure he's involved." Yang deadpanned.
*That he's involved in this should come as no surprise to Yang, given that he's involved in just about everything bad. If he's the one who did this to Ruby…
"Intruders," says the Grimm. "Nosy huntresses, and; Beacon Huntsman. Too many."
Torchwick is silent for a moment before simply saying, "Shit." After a moment, he continues. "Those kids keep messing everything up. They didn't follow you, did they?"
Blake's grip on her arm intensifies, and before Yang can quite comprehend why, she's being dragged away across the corner, pressed against the side of the building.*
"Smart, Miss Belladonna."
"Yeah. Top hat is about to check the door you girls were at."
*Blake's instincts prove sound a moment later, when the door is shoved open, making an incredible clang as it collides with the wall.
"...It at least did that right," Torchwick eventually says, voice retreating back into the station. "For being such a creepy bastard, you'd think it could at least kill some huntresses-in-training. Why'd she even stick us with it, anyways?"*
Qrow waved his hands at the screen in a 'See what I mean?' kind of fashion.
*After a few seconds have passed, Blake leads her back to the entrance, door now hanging off its hinges.
"Orders?" The Grimm says.
Torchwick ignores it, instead responding to someone unheard. "Yes Neo, obviously it's a threat! She's not just going to lend us the Hound out of the goodness of her heart. Not even sure she has one."*
"The Hound…" Ruby said, eyes widening. It was the title of this movie. It was hinting at what was coming the whole time.
*"Orders?" The Grimm (the Hound, Torchwick called it) (Ruby) repeats.
Blake's giving her an odd look that Yang can't quite place, somewhere between pity and confusion.
"Your orders are to stay in the tunnels," Torchwick says. "And don't go too far. We'll have to accelerate the time table, so be ready to leave in a few hours." The conversation continues after that, but it's faint enough that Yang can't make it out.
She moves to go through the doorway, to continue after them, but Blake stops her. Her hand still hasn't left Yang's arm.
"What are you doing?" Yang hisses. "We have to go after them!"*
"Blake, let me go after her!"
"Xiao Long," Weiss exclaimed, "As much as I'd want to save Ruby, you are insane. Ruby was kicking all of our butts, including a fully fledged Huntsman, and you think you could do it with just Blake, ignoring the fact that Roman and Neo are down there, and we all remember what happened the last time you fought Neo."
"Weiss is right," Oscar added, "This isn't something you can just punch your way through. Especially if you want to save Ruby."
Yang grit her teeth, and only relaxed when Ruby put a hand on her arm, a sad smile on her face. 'I really hate that I told you girls what happened.'
*Blake shakes her head. "Yang, please. I know you think that thing, the Hound, is, is Ruby, but—"
"We have to go after them," Yang repeats. If she sounds desperate, that's not her fault. She is. "Please. I swear to God, that thing's my baby sister."
Blake purses her lips. "Even if I... even if you're right, and it is, going in there after them, it's suicide. Torchwick, Neapolitan, and that thing? The Hound? It took on our team by itself, they'll kill us! We have to regroup with the team, make sure Oobleck's okay."
"I don't care about—" Yang stops herself before she can finish. Even here, with her sister getting further and further away by the second, Yang can't bring herself to say she doesn't care about her team.*
All three girls in team YIBW smiled. Despite how she feels about Blake and Yang possibly getting together, Ilia didn't mind the idea of actually being on a team with them now.
*"I need to go after it. I know that thing is my sister, and I love you but there's nothing you can say to make me abandon her. Not again."
"I'm not asking you to, Yang. We'll come back here; Torchwick said they were leaving in a few hours, right?"
Slowly, Yang nods her head.
"Then we'll return as soon as we can, well before they leave. Whatever happens, I'm with you, but we need to regroup with Ilia and Weiss first, and check on Dr. Oobleck."
"He's a grown up, he can handle himself."
"His leg's snapped in half, Yang."*
Everyone flinched.
"Ah," Ren said, "So-So that's what Yang meant when she saw that something was wrong with his leg. I simply hoped that it was bleeding, but this is much worse."
"Oh my god," Ruby panicked, hands over mouth, "I'm so sorry, Professor Oobleck."
*That gives Yang pause. She takes in a deep, shaky breath.*
"First, I'm pretty sure he likes to be called Doctor," Jaune comforted, "Second, I'm sure he wouldn't hold it against you. You aren't really in control of your own body."
*"...Okay. But I'm, I'm not abandoning Ruby, okay? I'm getting the team, we'll see what we can do, and then I'm coming back here and saving my little sister. I'm not abandoning her."
Blake smiles, and even in this hellish situation, even in the dead of night, it's as bright as sunshine. "You're not abandoning her, Yang. You're just... not making us abandon you. Okay?"
"Okay," Yang says.
Blake holds her hand the entire walk back to their team.
If Yang's shaking the entire time, Blake doesn't comment on it.*
*"There you are!"
There's emotion in Weiss's voice, plenty of it, but Yang can't tell which wins out between irritation and relief.
Weiss and Ilia are camped out in one of the many abandoned buildings, this one with a suspiciously Grimm-shaped hole in it. They've gotten their hair done back up, Yang notices.
Dr. Oobleck is lying unconscious further back in the building, one of his pant legs cut off to reveal—
Yang's first thought is that he has two knees. It's only upon a second look that she sees, no, that second bend in his leg isn't natural. It's got a bloody bone sticking out of it.*
Nearly everyone's faces turned green at the sight. Ruby covers her mouth to contain her rising bile, while Ilia was too slow to do hers. Luckily Screen Weiss and Screen Ilia were able to patch it up as best they could, otherwise the sight might've made more of them vomit. The adults of the group weren't squeamish, but they definitely sympathized with Oobleck's plight. None of them noticed that, once Ilia sat back down, the bile seemingly evaporated.
*"We're here," Blake says. "How's everyone doing?"
"I've seen better days," says Weiss. "But I'll live. Ilia?"
Ilia shakes her hand in the universal gesture for meh. "Nothing major."
"That's good." Blake tilts her head towards their professor's unconscious form. "And Oobleck?"
"Well his leg exploded," Ilia says. "That's bad, I think."*
Yang threw a look at Ilia, "Weren't you in the White Fang? Surely you saw-"
"Worst I ever saw were slash marks on dead bodies. Nothing as bad as this."
*"Not as bad as it could be," Weiss says. When everyone stares at her, speechless, she continues, "It is! A broken tibia is bad, but with aura and proper medical care it should heal up with few long-term effects. If he'd gotten hit just a bit higher, and that happened to his knee..."
Yang winces. That's not a pretty picture.
"Well, silver linings and everything," Ilia says. "Now, what the hell's wrong with you two? Specifically you, Yang."
"Ilia—"
Whatever Blake was going to say, Ilia ignores it. "You were out of it when we fought that Grimm— and I mean like seriously out of it— and then the second it retreats, you freak out and chase after it? What the fuck is going on with you?"
"Ilia, it's—"
"That Grimm is Ruby. It's my little sister."
Silence reigns.*
"Yeah," Nora said, "After a bombshell like that, you got some splainin to do. If they weren't your teammates, they'd think you were insane."
"Hell," Ilia added, "If Blake told me Kali or Ghira were turned into a Grimm, I'd still be calling her crazy. Though, since Yang is clearly the type to punch someone who calls her that, I'm probably going to try to play it slow."
*Blake has a pained expression on her face, like she knew this was coming. Ilia and Weiss are staring at her like she's lost her mind.
"...Okay," Ilia eventually says, voice carefully flat, slowly enunciating every word. "Want to explain how you came to that conclusion, Yang?"
"It—" Yang doesn't know where to begin. She paces around, everyone's eyes following her, before she eventually sits down across from Ilia and Weiss.
"It's with Torchwick, first off. The Grimm. We heard him giving it orders, Blake and I."
She turns to Blake for support, who nods. "Yeah, we heard him. Neapolitan's here as well."
Yang continues. "When I first came across it, it was— it had orders, I guess, to watch out for us. But they were Torchwick's orders, so it was saying to watch out for, you know, Ice queen, and Kitty cat, and Lizard girl."
Ilia and Weiss nod. "Yeah," Weiss says, "And that criminal calls you... Blondie, right?"
"Right!" Yang says. "Except it didn't. It called me Yang. And at first I thought it was... honestly super weird, but no big deal. I was trying to get back to you guys at that point, wake you up and tell you there's a talking Grimm out there, but I guess it heard me.
"I tried to hide, avoid a fight, but it— it knew my scent. Said it remembered how I smell. It took one sniff and knew I was there. Not just anyone, but me specifically, Yang Xiao Long. And then it— you guys ever play hide and seek, when you were kids?"
Blake and Ilia nod, and after a pause so does Weiss.*
Every Beacon student and Ilia turn to Weiss, caught off guard.
"Really?" Nora.
"Is this really important?"
Nora saw that everyone else shrugged, flinched, or something equivalent to it, and turned back to the screen. Nora, unable to get a clear answer, simply pouted, crossing her arm.
*"I used to when I was little, with— with Ruby. Dad and Uncle Qrow and Mom sometimes as well, but mostly just Ruby and I. Our house wasn't super big, though, so after a while we ran out of places to hide. Until one time, Ruby used her semblance to, to get up in the chimney. I looked and looked and looked, and I only found her when she started laughing, and she was covered in soot but she thought it was the funniest thing in the world and she'd do it every time we played hide and seek and—"
Yang can feel tears coming up, and squeezes her eyes shut in a desperate bid to keep them in. It doesn't work.
"Everyone plays hide and seek," she says, voice cracking. "But no one ever hides in the chimney, right? There's been millions of kids, but Ruby's got to be the only one who ever hid in the chimney and it knew! It said I was— every time we played hide and seek, after that, I'd check under the table, and then in the cupboard, and then in the chimney and it even knew the fucking order!"
She presses her palms against her eyes. Blake, who must have come to her side without Yang noticing, runs her hand down Yang's back.
They stay like that for a while, Blake rubbing circles while Yang gets herself under control.
It's okay. Ruby's alive. Yang can save her.
When she finally opens her eyes, Weiss and Ilia aren't looking at her. They're staring into the distance, looking at nothing, lost in their own heads.*
"Any idea what you're thinking, Weiss."
"Sister, I'm probably trying to find any way to deny this without having Yang taking me on a deconstruction job on the nearby buildings."
Blake was about to agree, when she realized exactly what she said when Yang, Nora, and even Penny laughed.
"Wait, Weiss, did you just tell a joke?"
Weiss merely smirked.
Ilia was thinking that her Screen version would be on the same page, but would also be wanting to get the hell out of there. If their Huntsman was in near critical condition, they shouldn't stay there.
*"What really confirmed it," Yang says, bringing them all back to reality, "Is those bits of flesh that come off it."
"The flakes?" Weiss says.
Abruptly, Yang stands up. She paces over to the biggest pile of petals, where the Hound had grown wings, and picks up a handful of them. Once she's back, she hands some to everyone.
"What do these look like?" She asks.
Blake, Weiss, and Ilia all study the petals, feel them, try to look at them in better light.
"They're flower petals," Ilia says.
"Rose petals, technically," Weiss says. "Though I've certainly never seen one in black."
"Exactly!" Yang says. "Rose petals! Which, I get that may not seem like much to you, but my little sister dropped these exact petals every single time she used her semblance! I spent half my life cleaning these things up, I'd recognize them anywhere. It has to be her!"
"So it would certainly seem," Oobleck says.
All eyes turn to him. He must have woken up while they were talking.*
"Why is he awake!?" Oscar exclaimed, "Even if your conversation woke him up, he should be in extreme pain, and should've groaned or something."
"Oobleck has always had a high pain tolerance."
"Uncle Qrow, there's pain tolerance, and then there's that."
*"Professor!" Weiss says, hurrying over to his side. "How are you feeling?"
"Doctor, Miss Schnee. I did not earn my PhD simply for the fun of it!"
His voice is tight with pain, but it seems he's not feeling that bad.
"How much of that did you hear?" Blake asks.
Doctor Oobleck grimaces. "Enough of it to convince me. A person becoming a Grimm is rather unheard of, yes, but so is a talking Grimm, not to mention your evidence, while circumstantial, is rather overwhelming, so yes, I do believe that specific Grimm—"
"Torchwick called it the Hound," Blake interjects.
"The Hound, yes, I do believe it is your younger sister. Which leads to the question of what exactly we do now."
That's the crux of the matter, isn't it?*
"I would want you to retreat and come back with reinforcements." Winter exclaimed.
Qrow gave a sad smile, "But I highly doubt you are going to do that, are you?"
"Damn right, Uncle."
*"Blake and I listened in on Torchwick, he said they're gonna leave in a few hours. If that happens, I may never get another chance. I'm going after them."
Blake nods. "I'm going with her."
Weiss and Ilia share a look, before Weiss says "And we're going with you as well, obviously, but that does leave a rather significant problem unaccounted for." As she says that, she turns to look at Doctor Oobleck, who has taken to examining the part of his leg that is no longer inside his leg.
After a few seconds of silence, he realizes everyone is looking at him. "Ah yes, I suppose my, shall we say, lack of mobility would present something of a problem. You will not agree to stay here rather than chase after your sister, I take it?"
Yang shakes her head.*
"Okay, if Doctor Oobleck," Oscar commented, "Is able to crack a joke like that in his condition, then I'll take your word, Qrow."
*"Miss Belladonna, Miss Schnee, Miss Amitola; I take it you do not wish for your leader to approach this situation by herself?"
They all shake their heads.
"And you can't come with us," Yang says. "If we leave you out here by yourself while we go after Torchwick, Grimm will get you. Someone will have to stay to look after you."
She expects someone to volunteer. Whatever Grimm find their way to Oobleck, they'll be less dangerous than fighting Torchwick, Neapolitan, and the Hound.
No one does.
Yang can't help but feel proud of her team, her stupid, suicidal team that is about to follow her into the belly of the beast.
"If I were to call for a transportation ship," Oobleck slowly says, "I would likely be evacuated within a few hours. Leg or no leg, I am a trained Huntsman. I believe I can survive that length of time on my own."
Team YIBW shares a look. "It's risky." Blake says.
"Riskier than sending you girls to fight two trained criminals and a remarkably difficult Grimm while missing a teammate? You must understand, Miss Belladonna, it is my sworn duty to keep you children safe. I will not jeopardize that."
It's not a great solution, sure. But if Oobleck is pushing for it…
"Alright," Yang says, meeting his eyes. "Call a transport ship. We'll get you set up someplace safer, and once you're good and it's on the way..."
Oobleck nods and, visibly fighting what must be considerable pain, faintly smiles. "Whatever happens after that is up to me. Do have some faith, Miss Xiao Long; I did not become a Huntsman by accident."*
*Explaining to Goodwitch that the evacuation is only for Oobleck was, to put it simply, not a fun time.
But as she stands outside the Mountain Glenn Subway Station, the door still broken, Yang can't find it inside herself to care; not about the chewing out they'll receive when they get back, if they get back. Not the threats of expulsion. Not even Roman and his partner in crime, ready and willing to kill them all.
For the past year, every minute of every day has been spent wishing she had acted differently, wishing she hadn't gotten her little sister killed. But.
Ruby is not dead.
Ruby is not buried beside her mother in Patch, or digested by a pack of Beowolves.
Ruby is alive, Ruby is here, and Yang Xiao Long is going to save her little sister.
As one, Team YIBW step inside Mountain Glenn's subway system.*
"This fight is going to be much harder than when we did it."
"You got that right, Rubes. But we do have the element of surprise. If we're lucky, we might be able to stop the train before it even gets moving."
Ironwood shook his head. "It's unlikely. If…" he hesitated, unsure which words to use, "The Hound has a good sense of smell, then it'll detect you."
Qro decided to change the conversation. "I already knew that Weiss and Blake would do anything to help Yang, but Ilia…You're a complete stranger to me. So thanks for going to help my niece. Both of them."
As most of the group turned to Ilia, giving their own thanks, Ilia's freckles turned so red that even her cheeks started to blush.
"It-it's ua-It's nothing."
Meanwhile, Yang leaned up against Ruby.
"Don't worry, Rubes," she whispered, "I'll save you, no matter what."
"But...what if you-"
"I will."
Ruby wanted to believe her, but a thought kept creeping up her mind.
"Yang, our...host, said that Salem had a weapon. Since I'm clearly not the weapon, it means that there are more of them, at least one more."
"Yeah?"
"Do you think..." Ruby's voice, even when whispered, hitched.
"What?"
"...Mom."
Yang's eyes widened in horror as the movie continued.
Author's Notes: For anyone who's wondering why there are less 'reactions' in this story compared to Ever After theatre, there's a good reason. Unlike Ever After Theatre, the 'movie' doesn't pause when people are talking, so they have to take their discussions as quick as possible, so they don't miss out on anything else.
As always, leave a review, fav/follow, and I'll see you all next time.