Yang Xiao Long

"Where in the hell did she come from..." Cardin had a tight grip on his mace, his body was tensed like he was trying to keep it from trembling. He was an arrogant fool but... not even he would underestimate someone that had fought a Harbinger.

"Qrow made a report after there fight-" Yang forced herself to stand, and watched as Neo's eyes followed her up. "Apparently she can switch out her Affinity. He saw her with Magenta eyes at one point."

Coco adjusted her stance, readying her staff but not firing it yet... she wanted as long of a rest as she could manage to draw out.

"Spatial Magic huh? Anything she cant do?"

"None of The Big Four were on Qrows report..." Fox whispered as he moved behind Coco, slipping a hand into her bag to take stock.

"And whys she just standing there??"

"Cardin calm down." Yang practically hissed at him. "Apparently she's a very hit and run type fighter... just... swap the running part for standing there menacingly."

Neo tilted her head and cocked her hip to the other side, putting on a face of exaggerated thought as she raised a finger to her chin.

Coco turned her head to Yang, but didn't dare take her eyes off of Neo.

"So what's the plan?"

"There's some info still here... we need to get it before we leave."

"She's not gonna let us do that." Coco pointed out.

Yang filled her gauntlets with mana once more and sighed.

"I know."

"I was confident about fighting her earlier but... seeing her in front of me is different..."

Qrow had beaten her by putting a timer on the fight, Yang needed to follow her Uncles lead.

"Cardin, you think you can stick a hand through the roof if you transform?"

"I might bring the whole thing down." If Cardin continued to support the building in his Giant form, then they could send the flare now... could they last with only the three of them?

"Just say the word team leader." Coco held a smirk now as the gears in Yangs head turned.

"Not yet. We wait for her to make the first strike... Cardin, the second she moves, stick your hand through that roof and send out a call for help. You'll need to support the ceiling to make sure it dosent come down on us, and we'll have to defend you."

Fox turned to her.

"Not the best plan..."

"It's the best I can come up with..."

"Why did she swap the Grey eye out...? The Grey and Pink was the combo that nearly killed Qrow... does she wanna play with us or is she just an idiot...?"

Standing there she looked almost like a statue. It was creepy, her clothes moved so little it looked like there wasn't any wind at all, her pose was being held perfectly, Yang couldn't see her chest move with her breath... hell she hadn't even blinked in ages-

"Brown eye- Glass magic- Illusion!"

Yang immediatly leaped forward, burning through the air before squaring Neo straight in the face with her fist. Instead of the sound of bone shattering, she was met with the sound of shattering glass. The illusion fell apart and Yang quickly turned around.

"Cardin!!" He didn't need anymore instruction then that, quickly fully shifting and thrusting his right arm straight through the ceiling along with his head nearly going through thanks to his height.

They didn't see the flare fire, only the sudden green hue that lit up the outside through the windows.

"A Green flare is the Hunter symbol for support needed."

Probably the best flare to use for now, even if a healer showed up, more numbers would help.

Neo didn't stay hidden for long, Coco didn't even say anything, she just turned her staff and started firing the second she spotted her.

The girl grinned as she shrapnel flew straight at her, she had been only a few metres to Yangs right now that she was looking back at the rest of them. Neo practically danced between the spells attacks, deflecting some metal here, stepping out of the way of some more there, it was a sight to behold.

But Yang wasn't here for a show. She raised both of her arms and roared out a fire spell, her arms igniting as a flame thrower burst forth, complelty covering the area Neo had been in.

She almost didn't hear it between Coco's staff firing and the sounds of the roaring flames... the faint, ever so quiet noise... of glass breaking.

She stopped her spell and looked around quickly, her eyes darting around as she tried to feel out her presence... it was no use. Neo had managed to spread her magic all over the room already, trying to sense her was like trying to find a snowball thrown into a snowstorm.

Yang rushed over to the others, all of them moving to Cardin and standing on different sides of his Giant form each, they would have to wait and react... but Neo probably had some idea what those flares meant now, so it was unlikely that she'd wait for long.

"Cardin... if we start going down, drop the ceiling."

"Are you sure??"

"No but... it's the best I got." It was desperate, but they would have to do everything they could to buy just a little more time.

"Does Qrow know Spatial Magic...?" Fox spoke with a false hope that told of his doubt without Yang even answering.

"I dont even know if he's in Vale at the moment..." Yang figured she should be realisitc about this for now.

"Anyone got anything big they can use?"

"Pretty sure if we did, we'd be using it Coco." Yang rolled her eyes but something flickered in her peripheral vision. Turning her head to the right, she felt something sink through her side coming from her left.

Letting out a groan of rage and pain, she quickly turned and slammed her fist into nothing but air, Neo having pulled her weapon out of the woman's flesh as she dodged back with a grin, before vanishing into nothing again.

"Fuck..."

"You ok Yang?"

"Just peachy Fox..." She groaned and pressed her hand to her side, a soft green hue bled out from between her fingers as she worked to heal herself.

"Yeah... she hit some vitals that time..."

Coco let out a scream of pain and rage that Yang could recognise as the exact same thing she had just gone through, then a familiar green hue coming from her right.

"Shit... is this her plan...?"

"Hit and run... maybe shouldn't have said that..."

They didn't have any means of countering her Illusions... it was only a matter of time before she managed to wear them down.

Her next hit was to Fox, apparently stabbing his shoulder instead of his stomach.

"She's going to kill us slowly... by the time help arrives, it'll be a one on one."

These hits were damaging, the more vital an area the more careful you had to be with healing magic, so the slower it worked. She could outdamage there healing as things were now. Out of all of them, Yang probably had the best healing magic... which she could probably thank her Father for but... well, even that thought alone was a whole can of worms she didn't want to open right now... or ever.

"Though... right now might be the rest of my life."

She sat with that thought for a moment, and breathed in deeply... before letting out an exhale.

"Coco. Cardin. How good are you both at Earth magic?"

"I'm better with Metal personally."

"I'm pretty good." Yang couldn't tell if that was Cardins arrogance or not... but it would do for now.

"Alright... I'm not gonna explain so just make sure to keep yourselves covered." Yang stepped away from the group and closed her eyes as she stood in the middle of the room, practically inviting Neo to run her through...

Which is exaclty what she did.

Yang felt the cold Metal slide into her chest, probably piercing a lung. She felt Neo's body crash into her as well, the girl had clearly expected Yang to fall or move from the sudden attack but...

"Oh look at that... I know where she is now."

Yang's eyes opened and they were pure red. A deep crimson that held a gaze straight into Neos eyes, but she wasn't done there. Neo immediately withdrew her weapon but Yang had hoped for that. With the familiar sound of a fiery explosion she entered her fully transformed state, unlike usual however, her fur was nearly fully alight in roaring flames as she let out a deep guttural howl that was probably heard by most of the district.

Neo leapt back but it was too late. Yangs roar carried with it the full weight of her attack, a wave of fire that exploded out from her Hellhound form in every direction.

Berserker eyes affected one Affinity you're born with. Either your natural one, or if your born a creature, that one. Yang's had affected the Affinity she got from being a Hellhound, being her Fire Affinity. The deep Red replacing the orange of the flames.

And when Beserker eyes go full blast? Well, she gets the same power boost that someone would get from having a double Affinity in fire.

So currently, her Fire magic was as strong as her daughters naturally was.

The flames singed everything in the room, covering all with a burning glory of fire. Coco and Cardin had done there best to erect a wall between them and the flames but it was still blisteringly hot behind the rock and metal.

Yang kept the assault up for at least twenty seconds, needing to push herself for as long as she could. But the longer she held it, the more and more she felt her emotions calm. Her thoughts of never seeing her family again that had fueled her burning rage subsided to give way to her desire to hug her wife and children once again...

Yang let out a ragged breath as the spell ended, returning to her half form to lower the size of Neo's target... because Yang knew... it wasn't a matter of if she was alive...

"Just when her next attack is gonna come..."

She looked around cautiously. That spell had taken more out of her then she had thought it would. The shelving in the room was either red hot metal or melting now, the table from earlier was on fire, and the parchments were cinders. Yang had been careful to move away from the office from earlier so hopefully that was ok... and thankfully the dust that had been in the magic circle was water or ice dust... she couldn't tell which one, but it hadn't exploded so that was a good sign.

Turning to the others, Coco was holding a thumbs up to her and Cardin appeared to be fine... a little red maybe, but he'd live. And Fox looked fine, he had probably hidden behind Cardins legs.

The thought actually made Yang laugh for a moment-

"Oh."

She felt that feeling again. The metal slip straight through her back and through her chest... but this time? Further to the left... Neo's blade had gone right through her heart.

She didn't need to hear Coco's screams or see the fear on Fox's face... hell even Cardin looked distraught... he actually was capable of being nice sometimes.

Yang... wasn't ok with this. She felt the blade be pulled from her back and her legs give way...

How could she be ok with this? She wanted to see her wife again. She wanted to go home and cuddle with her till they both fell asleep. She wanted to see her kids grow up... she wanted to have more kids. She wanted to see Celica become an amazing wizard, she wanted to see Sun become a better fighter then her and Blake combined, she wanted to see Ruby finish the Formula and marry Weiss.

"Huh... I didn't hesitate when I thought about it that time."

She fell to her knees and her body drifted forward as the fur and flames left her body. Her eyes fluttered for a moment as her chest dropped to the ground...

But she never hit it.

Someone... caught her...? She couldn't tell who. Her body was cold, she couldn't feel who it was, she just knew someone had caught her.

Hope started to return to her heart and mind, especially when a green hue filled her vision. She had to stay awake! She would see Blake again! She would see there kids again!! This person would save her!! They would-

Her wounds...? They had healed nearly completely?? Whoever this was... they had to have an Affinity for support magic. There was no way they could heal a wound like this that fast otherwise.

"That means I'm still in the fight. The second I can move I have to get up! Come on Yang! This is your second chance!! Let's do th-"

Her eyes adjusted and her vision restored as her wound fully sealed over and she saw it... her saviour. Well... rather... she saw there hair.

A burning, beautiful, pure red.

Pyrrha Nikos

"Well. That was far too close." She helped Yang up to her feet and gave her a smile. "You know. Blake and Ruby would never forgive me if I hadn't made it here on time... actually Weiss too thinking about it now."

Yang was... crying? Well she definitely had tears in her eyes but Pyrrha didn't want to call it crying just yet.

"Are you alright...?"

"Y-yeah... thanks Pyr... umm... can you beat this chick up for me?" She had such a geniune smile on her face, it filled Pyrrha with such a pure joy.

"Of course." Pyrrha pat Yang on the shoulder and turned to her assailant.

"Brown and Pink eyes? What does the Pink mean? She's quite short as well... shorter then Weiss actually, but more... well defined... the princess would probably have my head for even just thinking that."

She let out a small chuckle as she stepped over to her, drawing her sword.

The weapon was strange to anyone that looked at it at first, and a familiar nightmare for anyone who had actually fought against it. The whole thing was red and bronze in colour, and it looked to be made of two very well defined shapes. The handle was a cylinder and everything on top of that was one long triangle.

"So. Can I have your name before we begin?" She assumed a stance and tilted her head as she eyed down her opponent.

"Her names Neo! I don't think she can speak!" Coco was it? She yelled out very helpfully.

"Ah. Well, 'Neo'. I'm sorry to inform you that Yang is a dear friend of mine, as well as a dear friend of a dear friend, the wife of another dear friend, and the sister of another dear friend." Her pose hardened and her gaze shifted to a glare. "Suffice to say... I feel no guilt for what's about to happen."

Pyrrha didn't waste a moment, she complelty skipped the preamble and moved on to her full power. Her body grew in bulk slightly, and her face and arms became covered in tribal tattoos. She also opened the valve of sorts, letting Conquest's mana flood into her own pool.

Neo reacted immediately, with a blink one of her eyes became grey and she took a step back to ready herself... but that didn't matter.

Pyrrha was in front of her before her foot had even touched the ground, her sword planted firmly between her lungs all the way down to what would be the hilt on any other weapon.

Neo looked down at the blade with visible blinding confusion before looking up into Pyrrhas eyes once more, she trembled slightly before a drop of blood leaked out of her mouth. Pyrrha didn't react at all, instead drawing her sword from Neos body in the most brutal way possible. Slicing straight upwards through the girls chest and head, bisecting both completely.

With another swipe of her sword to fling the blood from it, she turned to Yang and the others with a smile.

"I apologize if that was too much, I just-"

"S-still alive!!" Coco yelled out while pointing frantically behind her.

Pyrrha didn't question it, simply turning and swiping horizontally at the same time. As she turned her body, she watched with awe as Neos body had already stitched itself back together... though, her eyes were different? One was White and one was Magenta... interesting.

Neo had leaped back in an attempt to avoid Pyrrha's slashing attack, but before her blade crossed in front of the girl, Pyrrha pushed her magic into the weapon.

The triangle shortened and the cylinder extended rapidly, forming a spear like shape now rather then the sword. And with the blade of the spear in the perfect position mid swing.

Neo's head was cleanly removed from her body and sent flying through the air as her body landed in the place she had attempted to leap back into safety. Pyrrha controlled the rest of her swing and adjusted her grip on the spear, now holding it by the middle.

"Is she going to get up again?" She asked nonchalantly.

"Will you be alright if she does??" Pyrrha smiled at Yangs question.

"Don't worry Yang. I can do this for as long as I need to. Plus it will be much easier now that I know she gets back up." As she spoke, she watched Neo's head start to form a new neck beneath it. With a curious tilt of her head, she stepped over carefully by the time it had formed down to its shoulders, and stabbed cleanly between her eyes, shooting the spearhead deep into her brain.

Yang Xiao Long

Well this was... brutal. Incredibly cathartic but, brutal.

"Can't say I hate it."

She turned to Coco and Fox with a soft smile.

"Stay here in case she needs help-" They all heard a thunk as Pyrrha stabbed Neo in the head again. "... anyway, I'm gonna go check out that office I saw earlier..."

Yang sighed and shook her head as she stepped over some rubble and headed towards the room she had been kicked into earlier.

"Between Pyrrha and Qrow, really puts it into perspective how weak I am... no. How much stronger I can be."

She put on a confident smile and continued through the hole in the wall.

Once she was out of sight from the others... she collapsed against the wall. Deep breaths turned into hyperventilating as she fumbled with her pockets, looking for a particular item.

"I nearly died... I nearly died... I could have died... I did die... if Pyrrha hadn't shown up... if... if... if...!!"

She shakily pulled out the Scrying Orb once she found it and rested both hands on it.

"B-blake... Blake... Xiao Long..."

The orb turned cloudy for a moment, a moment became a few seconds and... it focused.

There she was, clearly just having gotten out of bed and woken up for this.

"Yang...? Hey... what's up...?" Blake's ears were all floppy as she moved, her hair was sticking in random directions... it put a smile on her face just to see her and hear her voice.

"N-nothing. Just wanted to see you." That got Blake's attention immedialty.

"Why? Whats wrong?? Do you need my help- where are you??" Yang let out a small laugh and sniffled, blushing as she rubbed her nose.

"I'm fine... I'm fine Blake. I promise. I just... something happened and I was scared for a minute there."

"Well, now you're scaring me." Blake folded her arms and she looked at Yang with so much concern... it made the blonde smile more.

"Don't worry... Pyrrha showed up and... I just had to call you. I... I needed to... but... missions not over yet. I promise I'll tell you everything just... when I get home... ok?"

Blake looked unsure, she tilted her head and sighed... even with how worried she now was... even she knew that Yang was safe with Pyrrha here.

"Ok... just promise you'll be home tonight."

"Trust me... nothings gonna stop me from cuddling you tonight." She gave Blake one of her classic grins and Blake put on a soft smile as the call ended.

Yang knew that Blake was probably gonna be too worried to get any sleep until she got home now... but she was still on a mission. She had to calm herself down and that was the only way she could think to do it...

"Plus being honest... Blake's not angry... she would have been angry if I didn't call though."

Yang sighed and slipped her Scrying Orb away... she should get a Scroll.

Shelving that thought for later, she stood and moved over to the desk from earlier... luckily the office had been safe from the fire she had used earlier.

With a quick glance over the different papers and parchments on the table... Fox had been right.

"They were definitely trying to do some kind of Ritual... it looks like they succeeded too. They wouldn't have been leaving otherwise." Now for the actual reason she had come in here.

The board behind the desk was full of info... but all of it was mumbo jumbo to her. She wasn't too good with the Technical side of magic... maybe if Ruby was here she could figure it out.

"Heh... this all looks really similar to what Ruby was working on."

Actually... it looked exaclty like what Ruby had been working on. The notes were all different, this wasnt exaclty Ruby's work but... it wasn't like she had been stolen from or anything... right...?

She looked over it carefully... this workshop had been under operation for... fifteen years?? They had been repeating the same ritual for fifteen years?? What?? The only thing that would take that much time was...

"They couldn't have been-"

Her heart sank as she saw it. That one bit of paper stuck to the wall towards the middle. Her heart came back and started beating in her throat... they had done what they were after... that's why they had started packing up. This was... this was more progress then anyone else had made in centuries...! Well... besides Ruby but-

It couldn't be... but it was here plain as day.

She needed to destroy it. This was what Ruby had been working on, her lifes work, she needed to make sure no one else could take this from her, she knew her daughter, she knew this would shatter her confidence.

She raised her fist with a burning flame attached to it and-

"Watcha looking at?" Her heart sank once more. A hand gently rested on her shoulder and slowly lowered her arm as Coco stepped around her... with Fox not far behind and Cardin coming around her other side...

"Why are they here already... what about Pyrrha and Neo...-"

The flare... Pyrrha hadn't been the only one to see it. Other help was here... probably other Hunters.

It was too late. She had failed...

Tears welled in her eyes as the others all realised what they were looking at...

"I'm sorry Ruby..."

Weiss Schnee

Last night had been... well, not enough sleep.

But, it was morning which meant she had to be awake... and her morning routine had been rudely interrupted by a call.

"Penny? What's going on-"

"Weiss! Get down to the lab! Now!!" Penny was... upset...? That was unusual...

"Is Ruby ok-?"

"Just get down here Weiss! I... I have to go... my fathers called me and... just get down here!!" And just like that she had hung up...

"Because I don't need to be more stressed right now!!"

She hurried with the rest of her routine, skipping a few steps along the way, before she was in some clothes and heading out of her room. Nearly running as she settled on power walking through the hall.

"Calm down Weiss... Ruby's ok... she's ok... Penny would have told you if she wasn't... Ruby's ok... she has to be."

Her stress was getting the better of her as she continued down the hall, passing by her father's office and-

"Weiss. A Princess shouldn't be rushing like that... though perhaps you're just excited." Great... just what she needed this morning.

"Hello Father, I'm sorry but I have somewhere to be-"

"Hello? I'm surprised... you're quite calm considering." Her father was holding a cup of... ok seriously, now her Farher was drinking it?? What the hell was in that cup of Ozpins?? Anyway... he was holding that and a paper... well, the newspaper.

"Considering what?" She put a hand on her hip and leaned on it, she really didn't have time for this...

"My my... you really don't know... I had thought better of you daughter. I assumed you knew already but... if I must tell you everything." He held out the newspaper to her, Weiss cautiously took it... from the way he was talking... he sounded like he had already-

"...won..."

There were two headlines today... both of them made her want to throw up, rip the paper in half, and stab her father in the throat.

The First Phrase of the Dragon Formula has been recovered from a White Fang Hide out!

Suprise in the Castle! The Princess of Vale to be married today!