Yang Xiao Long

"Would you say that Jasper has made things harder?" Winter meant well, really, she did. But, the elder Schnee could definitely use some small talk practice.

"I mean, after two kids, you sort of just have enough practice already." Though, Yang supposed that's what this was now. "Also, the twins were old enough to look after him themselves. It wasn't as hard as they were when they were his age." It didn't help that they had only planned for one child at first. Having twins had come as a surprise.

"I suppose I can relate." Her words were spoken with a hint of nostalgia, but Yang leaned onto her elbow further, turning to Winter now fully as she awaited an elaboration. "Not to you-" She seemed almost embarrassed when she glanced back at Yang. "I mean... It felt like I raised my siblings when I was younger... they certainly didn't get a lot of the affection they could have wanted from our parents. Not that I was much better at it..." That last part was only a mumble, but both of them knew that anything spoken could be heard by them both from this distance.

Said distance was only a few metres. It was early morning, and both Dragons were laid down on the top of the sand dune they had set up camp behind the night before. Their bodies were hidden behind for the most part, only their heads visible from the other side... though, from this distance, it was unlikely that they would be spotted. This had been their post for an hour so far, and both of them had long since moved past the worries of getting sand in their clothes. It was already in there, may as well just live with it now.

So, they both rather shamelessly laid against the dune.

"I sorta raised Ruby, as well." Though, that circumstance had been very different. "I was a lot older than you were, though." Somehow, Yang kept forgetting that she was much older than Winter... and she got the impression that the woman did so often as well.

Still, the Ice Dragon smiled. "You raised her well. She makes Weiss happy, and I couldn't have hoped for better in her partner."

"Weiss isn't bad, either. Honestly, when Ruby first told me she liked her... I was worried. But, at the same time, I already knew that Weiss liked her too."

"She was terrible at hiding it."

"Well, there was that. But she also just straight up told me." Both of them let off a light chuckle at that.

"She is rather hopeless sometimes."

"They both are." Personally, Yang believed that Ruby was a bit further down that scale than Weiss was. "I'm glad they found each other... They love each other just as much as I love Blake. What about you? Got anyone special, Winter?"

"Oh, no... no, I'm afraid not." Her smile faltered for a moment, but Winter tried her best to look strong as she looked out towards the town. Eyes no doubt set on the warehouse. "Not yet... anyway."

"Got your eyes on someone?"

"No... but... I have hope, at least."

"Sometimes that's all we can have."

"Yang... I was wondering something."

"Shoot." She prepared herself mentally for a personal question.

"Have you... seen anyone?"

"What? Are you asking me if I've-"

Winter cut her off before the blonde punched her. "No! No, no! I assure you, I'm not! I mean... in the town. Have you... seen anyone?"

"What? I-" She paused, her eyes glancing over then quickly setting strong on the distant mass of buildings. Last night it had looked practically abandoned, but that was just due to the temperature, right? Yang had thought so at least. So, as time ticked away... and nothing happened... Yang started to worry that Winter was right. "Is the town... abandoned?"

"Is it possible that everyone in Vacuo has fled to the capital...?" Winter was clearly just thinking out loud... but, it sparked an idea in Yang anyway.

"If that's the case... then, where does this thing drop off its Dust?" Their eyes met and Yang smirked brightly as she shot up, almost immediately feeling the sand shuffle inside her clothes... yet not caring anymore. "If we follow the machine-"

Winter stood as she came to the same realisation. "We might find the capital!"


"So, that's the plan." Still resting at the top of the sand dune, Winter and Yang were now joined by the others baring Penny, she was packing the tent back up. "What do you think?"

"Its..." Yang braced herself as Coco spoke.

"Genius? Awesome?"

"Optimistic." Robyn finished the sentence for her, and judging from Coco's expression, she had gotten it right. "How do we know they're even going to head to the capital anytime soon?" The two apparently not onboard women stood a little further down the hill, though they were still head height with the laid down Yang.

"What?" Though, that changed once she stood. Her arms folding to match the others. "That's a chance we have to take. We could end the war now!"

Coco apparently disagreed. "It would be a better idea to just attack the machine now. If the towns empty, there aren't any civilians we have to worry about."

"Don't you want this to end? So far, the war has been tame... but that won't be the truth forever." Winter's voice turned momentarily sullen. "We should try and end this before anyone gets hurt."

With a small smile, Robyn tried to empathise. "I understand where you're coming from, believe me, I do... But, we don't know what we'll find at the capital." The next part was whispered. "If we even do find it..."

"Carmine beat Ruby, and frankly, she had way more experience as a Dragon than you two do." Between the two, Coco and Robyn seemed to be playing good cop bad cop without even realising. Coco, of course, taking the more sassy of the two options. "Not to mention the possibility of someone else stronger being there now."

"Ruby had more experience as a Dragon, yes. But, she is nowhere near as strong as us."

"Hey!" Yang's red eyes shot to Winter, a frown gracing her expression. "Watch it."

"Look, we can interrogate the people inside the machine. That will solve both problems, right?" Robyn kept trying to play mediator, but things were quickly degrading into an argument.

"No, it won't. Interrogation won't end this war."

"Calling it a war is a bit of a stretch. Nothing's happened."

Yang grit her teeth at Coco's comment, it always annoyed the blonde how calm the other woman could keep herself, even mid-argument. "That's why we're here! To stop things from happening!"

"Guys-"

"Oh, and what an amazing job we're doing." Both of them had essentially locked into a full on confrontation. "You and Winter are too busy testing us to even try and finish this mission."

"We're testing you alright, and I'm guessing from all this that you're going to fail!"

"Guys!"

"What do you want, Robyn!?" Both sets of eyes locked onto the Roc, and her own purple eyes surged with surprise as they actually listened.

Still, she managed to collect herself quickly. "Our target is on the move." The others - including Winter - practically scrambled up the few steps down from the top of the dune they were, and were treated to the sight of the machine in action for the first time since coming here. Coco surely got a worse view of it than both Dragons did, but the sand it kicked up was more than large enough for her eyes to catch. It looked strange to say the least. Yang could compare it to a closed carriage that was at least five times the size... and with a weird form of mobility. Its wheels didn't actually touch the sand, rather, there were at least eight on each side of it, a sort of rubber like material draped around all of them on one side and spinning around them to move. From Yang's limited experience with vehicles when she was younger, she could guess that was to help with traction moving across the sand.

"Yang, the back of it." Following Winter's comment, Yang's eyes shifted and focused onto the back of the vehicle. It had a rather large metal grid attached to its lower back that seemed to dig under the sand. The grid presumably had those prongs they had theorised about earlier at the bottom of it, and the sand it brushed past moved and flowed out of the way, almost like water. Her best guess was it used earth magic to achieve that, or even wind magic.

They watched it for a while, from this distance it barely caused their eyes to move as it passed over the distance of about a kilometre... and, finally, Winter saw it. "It just picked up a crystal."

"Are you sure?" Coco's surprise was reflected by Robyn, but, Yang could confirm it with her own eyes.

"It was fire Dust, not a big crystal... but something." She had watched it shift slowly but surely up the grid, like magic was propelling it to the top for collection.

"This thing uses a lot of magic... how the hell does it turn a profit in terms of Dust?"

"Alright, let's go smack it." Coco seemed to believe she had won the earlier argument. But, before Yang could interject, Penny spoke up, apparently having finished collecting the tent.

"If it's heading West, it may cross through one of the canyons in the mountainous regions." She - rather helpfully - showed them a map to give an idea of one of said canyons. The terrain in Vacuo was harsh, but consistent. Ravines, sand, mountains, that was about all that could be found here. The only reason anyone could settle in this place was thanks to how easy magic made farming.

"Those canyons look rather long..." Robyn spoke with a hand on her chin, and it only took her a few seconds to come up with a plan. "There aren't any towns out there. If it does head through one of those... that can only mean it's going to the capital."

"How would a city fit out there? It's nothing but cliffs and ravines." Coco was still unsure, but Robyn responded without pause.

"The magic needed to move the city is incredible, but it's likely that same power can be used for other things." She moved her finger in a circle of sorts on the map. "Like terraforming, for example."

"It would explain why we can't find the city..."

"So, what does that mean?" Yang's question was met with a smile from the Roc.

"It means, if they do head into one of those canyons, we can attack them as soon as they enter." Her posture straightened as she turned back to look at the machine in the distance. "I doubt that vehicle can turn very well... if it drives into a ravine or canyon, it's planning on coming out the other side."

"This plan involves a lot of assumptions." Now, Yang was the one who was unconvinced.

"Of course, but our mission is to only stop their means of accessing Dust, anyway. I would like to report this, but a call to Vale could be detected."

"You're right, Robyn." Yang turned to Winter with a bit of surprise at her words, but, the Schnee was smiling. "So, we follow the machine. If it enters a canyon... then we attack. Once that's done, we capture anyone we can, and follow the canyon through to find the capital."

"Perhaps we should set off now?" Penny's nervous question made everyone else turn to her. "I mean... it has been getting further away this whole time." Her hand awkwardly rose to point at the machine in the distance, but Yang shrugged.

"Oh, don't worry about that. I can catch up to it."

"Won't that make them spot us?" Winter seemed concerned, but once again, Yang smirked.

"Nope. I have a plan."


"This wasn't what I had been expecting, if I must be honest." Winter was left sounding unimpressed... though maybe that was just because they were back in the bubble.

Yang's plan had been rather simple. Rather than come at them in a straight line, she'd follow them in an 'L' shape, first heading to the town, then following them from directly behind. The wind wasn't too strong today, so the machine left flat sand behind it, and the sand it kicked up was enough to cover its line of sight to hide the Dragon from view. So, once Yang had gotten directly behind it, she was still left a few kilometres away... which was solved as she started pelting her wings at max speed.

The Dragon laughed as the others were thrown by the sudden change in speed, but after that their worry had followed. Of course, if Yang went too fast, shed kick up a big enough cloud of sand to be spotted by the crew of the vehicle. That had been solved simply by incinerating the sand she kicked up, her Innate Spell she received from being the Solar Dragon activated, and her body glowed with a bright molten flame. Her scales seemed transformed into the surface of the sun itself, and the sand she passed over melted and formed into glass instead of being kicked up as a cloud.

Obviously, this was going to leave a pretty clear trail behind them. But, Yang was banking on the idea that their enemies were only in front of them. The machine and the capital, far ahead of them.

Yang's speed dropped, and her scales returned to normal once there was only a distance of about half a kilometre left between them and their target. The Dragon actually had to fly quite a bit slower than she wanted in order to maintain distance, but luckily the vehicle was fast enough that she could remain airborne.

"Oh, thank god! It's finally over..." Coco's words left the Dragon confused... until she used her Mana to scan the contents of the barrier. What she found where once had been dignified and respectable women, were now four incredibly sweaty and annoyed women. Well, three annoyed. Penny couldn't bring herself to show any amount of contempt. "Yang! Next time, don't go all... fiery that close to us!"

She couldn't help but chuckle at Coco's complaints.

Finally, it came into view. The sheer rock faces that lead up to cliffs, the crack through the earth that looked like the wall of stone had been split with an attack, the canyon up ahead was more like a ravine snuggled between two mountains that shot straight up from the ground rather than rising slowly like hills. Yang saw it long before the vehicle or its crew likely did, and she spent the hours leading up to it trying to work out if it was a ninety-degree angle from the ground straight up, or if it actually had an overhang. Only once they got closer could she confirm that it did indeed have a bit of an overhang, not much, only a degree or two.

"This isn't natural."

More than likely, these formations had been born from great wizards using terraforming magic... and how great indeed they must have been. The structures stretched for miles. Different cracks and gaps between them being the only ways through to the proper mountains that laid past. Yang had no doubt that this gigantic wall of stone stretched from sea to sea across Vacuo... They had long since passed the place the capital had once been, though, they weren't close enough to actually see that particular part of the desert.

"I know that the capital moved... But, this distance really puts it into perspective..."

Yang had to wonder... exactly how much Mana had it taken to change the city's location so completely?

With that thought still fresh in her mind, they finally crossed the threshold. The ravines entrance swiped past them, and the sights of the desert were closed off and replaced with more cliffs of stone that stretched at least a hundred metres up. Wordlessly, the team in the bubble readied themselves. Coco drew her staff from a bag, Robyn pulled her bow from another, Penny prepped her magic to prepare their landing once the barrier dropped, and Winter gathered the Mana necessary to transform. With another solid flap of her wings, this time one that the team was prepared for, Yang's body shot forward, and the Dragon cleared the gap of half a kilometre in less than ten seconds.

Only, she didn't reach her target.

A barrier generated from both sides of the canyon, the walls closing in with a bright green glow that Yang saw too late. Her top speed was too much to suddenly slow from, and after steeling herself, did she instead decide to attempt to break through the barrier instead of stop before it. The Dragon slammed into the green magic, her body momentarily and quickly slowing as the barrier shattered around her, though, only the first was so quick to break. Yang let off a roar of pain as the extra layers of the green wall broke around her form, knocking her off course and damaging her wings too much to keep herself in flight. Her form was left to tumble and crash into the ground after breaking through the final layer, her momentum being unfortunately kept quite high as the Dragon slammed into and rolled against the ground.

Where there had earlier been sand, the ground had been replaced with stone and harsh rock. Yang had done well to keep the bubble shaped barrier in her claws safe from most of the damage, but after her head slammed into the ground too many times before coming to a stop, everything become fuzzy. As a Hunter, Yang had been trained to identify all kinds of damage afflicted to herself... and this just happened to be one of the worst kinds, baring Rot weapons and lethal strikes. The Dragon groaned as she ceased movement, her body slumping as she tried her best to keep a hold of control of herself... but, casting magic was completely off the table for now. Yang had suffered a concussion.

Luckily, she wasn't the only one here.

It was probably less than a minute, but her vision cleared and the haze clouding her mind disappeared as Penny finished healing. Yang didn't doubt for a moment that all of them had quite the tumble inside that sphere. Quickly after regaining herself was the Dragon back on her feet, moving to stand over Penny to keep her safe as she took stock of the situation... Not that there was much to keep stock of.

"This was a trap."

The barriers she had crashed through had dropped, and the distance between where she stood and where they had been was marked with her crash. The once stone turned rubble was also home to Coco and Robyn, who were both using the dip in the ground like trenches to keep some cover. The Dragon's eyes flicked up to the surrounding walls of stone, small rock outcroppings housed midway up the cliffs were filled with a frankly ridiculous number of archers and mages slinging spells straight down at them, though, their attacks weren't touching Yang. The Dragon moved over quickly, her legs skirting across the stone as she slid into place and stood over the two women, providing them with a much better source of cover. She had expected Penny to follow, so Yang was quite surprised as she glanced over and saw the girl running in the other direction.

Only after looking did she figure out where the Homunculus was headed. The enemies attacks were concentrated on Yang herself to try and get to the two beneath her, and now also attempting to focus down Penny as she ran to Winter's unconscious form. The girl was quick to protect herself with a barrier that followed her, and while Yang wanted to move over to help, she didn't trust the idea of moving around too much, for fear of endangering Robyn and Coco. Only after Penny reached Winter did she cast a much stronger and more stable barrier, as she began to heal the other Dragon.

Below Yang, Robyn and Coco were slowly but surely chipping away at the enemy forces. Yang wanted to join in, but for now she was saving her Mana in case a bigger threat showed up - None of the enemies present could damage her through her scales, the majority of them being Lycanthropes and Faunas... Coco's earlier assessment had been right. They were too weak.

That same woman was proving that fact as Yang waited for Winter to get up. Instead of using her staff, Coco opted to take advantage of her environment, using light terraforming magic similar to what Carmine used in the Vytal festival only to a much smaller degree. The magic flowed through the ground and up the cliffs, creating spikes that burst through any enemies unlucky enough to be targeted by her at the time. Robyn, on the other hand, used a much more straightforward method. She stood with perfect posture underneath Yang, drawing her bow fully and aiming it towards nowhere in particular. Once the arrow was released, a tear in space was formed that opened a portal just in front of the fired bolt, its exit, of course, put it directly in the path with an enemies head. These small portals that were kept open for but a moment were kept efficient only by her Affinity for them.

This continued for at least a minute before the status quo was broken. With a roar of pain, Yang flicked her head back and was greeted by something she hadn't been aware of until now. The machine, the vehicle they had been chasing, its top had opened like a chest, and from inside had a gigantic crossbow looking weapon being revealed. The same weapon that had just put a seven-metre-long bolt into her side.

"They have a ballista?"

It was a big one too. Yang whipped her long neck around, grabbing the end of the foreign object in her body with her mouth and attempting to rip it out of her. Only once her teeth settled onto it did her eyes widen with recognition, this bolt, it was completely made of metal. Not only that, but she pulled it out with such ease, as it lacked the standard 'teeth' that ordinary arrows and bolts featured... and through her blood, she could make out a seam at the base of its blade.

"Is this an Abaddon bolt?"

Luckily, she had brought the charm that Ruby had specially made for her years prior. But, if this had hit Winter?

That same thought made her curse mentally as she watched them slowly reload the weapon. She spent the necessary Mana and repaired her wound, but even if it couldn't properly curse her, that thing was the only way they had of damaging her so far. It was certain that they'd aim for her head this time. And like clockwork, she watched it change its aim to point straight at her. Yang wasn't confident enough in her skill with magic to properly break the weapon from here, so she had every intention to try and dodge the bolt.

"Bring it!"

But, she didn't have to. With a flash of Mana and a sudden drop in temperature, the weapon was suddenly rended from the rest of the vehicle, the connection point that it turned on having being cut cleanly and letting it drop to the ground. For good measure afterwards, though, the weapon was crushed beneath the weight of its attacker's four claws. Yang smiled as she saw the Ice Dragon in its full glory, and as its wings spread, she was sure their enemies felt the exact opposite of her own happy attitude.

Winter's full form greatly resembled her brother and sister, at least, from what Ruby had told Yang. The key difference being that Winter's wings were lined with scales that formed blade like edges. Besides that, it was actually probably a mixture between the Frost Dragon's grace, and the Snow Dragon's pride, with its head held a little higher than the other two. Being the two Dragons sent on this mission, they had both informed the other of what exactly they could do. So, Yang knew that when Winter reared her head back with an open maw, their enemies were most certainly fucked.

The Ice Dragon released a breath attack of a new calibre to what Yang had previously seen. While Ruby and herself lacked those attacks, Winter's was on a whole different level to her sisters, as besides its bonus Affinity - bringing Winter up to a triple Affinity for ice - that was the only benefit of that Title. With a single blast of the attack, one entire side of their enemies were wiped out and instantly killed as they were frozen solid, her mouth closed briefly to aim at the other cliff face, and with another screech of a roar did the other side of the enemies receive the same fate.

"I apologise for falling unconscious." Winter's telepathic comment left Yang with a smile, and her response was given the same way.

"You made up for it with the save." With a spin and a flash of light, Yang changed to her half form - in case they had somehow missed any enemies - and quickly checked up on the others. "You guys alright?"

"Somehow." Robyn looked exhausted, but held a smile anyway. Coco on the other hand just gave a thumbs up, and somehow managed to look as collected and cool as usual. Still, the familiar sight was nice, and Yang turned next to check on Penny only to see that Winter already was. Unlike Yang, Winter had chosen her base form to change into, and with a shrug, Yang went to change as well.

But she stopped. Past Winter and Penny, past the end of the crater that marked where Yang had landed, past even the machine... in the distance, stood someone else.

With a flap of her wings, Yang shot into the air. She paused to hover not too far up, only about ten metres into the air. Keeping herself afloat just high enough to get a good look at the person... she felt a chill. Not because it was cold, not because Winter changed into her half form and joined her in hovering... No, this was a different kind of chill. It was like... fear. Like her instincts were warning her that it was time to choose between fight or flight.

"Yang..." Judging from the shake in her voice, Winter was getting the same vibe from the man. Though, perhaps calling him something so simple as a man was wrong. With their eyesight, both Dragon's got a good view of him... in fact, a perfect view. Yang couldn't rip her eyes away from him, for fear that he wouldn't be in the same spot when she checked again.

She sized him up, the eight-foot tall man who looked to be made of more muscle than anything else. A plain green coat was draped down his body, beneath that being a cheap black shirt... besides his size, he looked painfully ordinary. His black hair was tied back, his beard was the same colour and not too long... all of it frustrated Yang. Nothing about him should be setting off as many alarms in her head as he was. Even his eyes, they were only Brown. He only had an Earth Affinity, how scary could he be?

"If I had to guess... This is him... the one that can move the city..."

Fight or flight, Yang had to make her choice...

Until her choice was made for her.

"You won't approach?" Deep, gruff, nothing she didn't expect from his voice just by looking at him. He spoke at a normal volume, clearly aware of how good their hearing was. "Perhaps you don't think I'm worth the time." Yang couldn't help but smirk nervously as he spoke, neither of them believed that, and they both knew it. By now, the others were aware that something was happening... But if they weren't already... "I guess I have to prove you wrong." They were about to be.

Hiding the presence of one's soul was complicated, but hiding aspects of it was easy. Your Mana tank simply took some practice, your title was easy... but there was another aspect you hid, even without meaning to. One's Affinity was as much part of their soul as it was a part of their body, and it was naturally hidden from anyone trying to sense your presence. Rather than requiring practice to hide one's Affinity, it took effort to reveal it. After all, there was no merit in doing so. Except, of course, in certain situations.

For example, if your Affinity was high enough... It could be quite intimidating.

Yang felt that chill on her spine switch to a guttural fear in an instant as the man revealed everything. His soul being on full display and everyone nearby becoming aware of exactly what he could do. Both Dragon's felt their wings falter and nearly completely give as fear overwhelmed them, the scream of fight or flight in both their bodies being replaced with only the desire to flee. From below, she could sense the others reacting in similar ways, if a bit worse thanks to their having less power than the Dragon's.

Inside Yang's mind, in her soul... she formed a list of things about him. A list that burned into her memory, and none of it anything she would soon forget about him. His soul was refined, calm, in complete control as it revealed everything and almost shook the valley. His Mana tank, his Primary was smaller than her own... but his Secondary, it was as big as a Harbinger's, yet he lacked a title. But, worse than that, was his Affinity. Earth, of course. But, only one detail about it stuck in Yang's mind.

"He... He has a Penta-Affinity...?"

"You still wait?" His words were like nails on a chalkboard, even without having changed its tone or volume at all. "Fine, I'll start than."

"WE'RE GOING!" Yang didn't pause to provide an explanation, instead, both Dragon's transformed at once and immediately dove. Winter went for Penny and was quick to scoop her up, while Yang went for Coco. Robyn had already transformed, the full scale of a Roc matching the size of a Dragon. Yang and Winter didn't wait any longer than that, both Dragon's quickly flying back the way they had come, attempting to escape the ravine going full speed. They would hopefully escape his range faster by moving straight away from him.

How wrong they were.

Yang flapped her wings to stop, having not gotten up to her full speed before a wall enclosed across the canyon in front of her. She hadn't even seen it appear, rather it wasn't there one instant, then was the next. The solid stone matched the other walls of the canyon in texture and colour... He was using terraforming magic, but it was way too quick. With another flap, Yang shot straight up instead, attempting to escape the ravine that way instead. Though, her path wasn't clear. Spikes shot from the walls coming from all directions, each one being at least the size of the Dragon, and all of them ending in a point that spelled death if it skewered them. Yang heard Winter as she shot a blast of her breath attack, the ice being aimed at the man, and seemingly doing little to slow him down... He had probably blocked it, this was the worst possible place to fight him.

Yang watched as the ravine started to close over the top of them, his magic being slower at the top thanks to only being able to draw the earth from two sources rather than the three at the bottom of the canyon. Yang grit her teeth, and with a swing of her front leg, she threw Coco ahead of her, the woman managed to get out before the roof closed over, and Yang used her innate spell at full blast now that she wasn't carrying anyone. The Dragon wasn't fast enough to escape the ravine before the roof closed, but she was determined enough to slam straight through the only recently terraformed earth, melting and breaking her way through the rock before emerging out the top. She quickly turned off her spell and caught Coco, continuing to gain height to hopefully escape the man's range, and only turning back to check that Winter had managed to follow her through the gap.

With a sigh of relief, she only paused in the air with Winter once they were hovering at least a hundred meters above the roof.

"Thank God..." Winter was the first to speak across telepathy, but before Yang could respond, she came to a realisation.

"Wait... where's Robyn?" Her panic was quick, and she turned to look down at the ravine that was still closing over. It had first closed at Yang and Winter's location, but for some reason, the Roc was much closer to the man... but why would she- "That idiot!" Yang moved back into a dive as she caught sight of the Roc flying up to escape the gap in the earth, her speed slower than a Dragon... and slowed further by the machine she was carrying.

"Robyn!" Winter joined her in the dive, and everyone tried to support Robyn. The Ice Dragon unleashed blasts of her breath weapon to try and hit the man, though he blocked each one. Penny managed to collect herself enough to form some barriers in the way of some spikes that would have hit Robyn, not managing to stop them, rather just slow them enough to save her. But, it was Coco who pulled through. Yang knew she was a quick shot with that staff of hers, but what she hadn't known was that apparently she was also a good shot. The fragments of metal that slipped past all the moving earth down in the ravine from Coco's staff weren't damaging enough to break through the man's defence, but it was constant enough to be a constant concentration sap.

All of it, all their efforts... and it wasn't enough.

Yang roared out in desperation as she watched the roof close over, the Roc having been nowhere near it before she was sealed off from the rest of the world... Luckily, she had just enough Mana left.

A breach, a tear in space large enough to fit the giant form of Robyn formed above the spot that once featured a crack in the earth, and the Roc soared through. However, she was only carried upwards still by momentum. Robyn changed back into her base form the second she and the machine passed through the gap, her last conscious action before exhaustion took over and knocked her out thanks to a lack of Mana. Yang was quick to toss Coco to Winter, the other Dragon catching both her and Robyn as Yang grabbed the machine with all her claws... and, amazingly, they all turned and fled. Somehow, having escaped with their lives.

"Who the hell was that?"

"I... I don't know, Winter."

Yang did know one thing though.

"That guy... He was stronger than Qrow."

17th Day, Fourth Strike, 2115 PE