Yang sighed as she lied back in bed. After the long mission at Mountain Glenn and the recent breach in Vale, Team RWBY had opted to spend the rest of the day resting in their shared room. However, the blonde brawler found herself awake after a while. Judging by the darkened room, it was still nighttime outside. The rest of Team RWBY were all asleep in their bunks, with Ruby drooling in her sleep.
There had been a lot on Yang's mind ever since her fight with that Neo girl on the train; a mysterious masked woman had come to the blonde's aid when she was about to be killed. Well, maybe not that mysterious, since Yang already had a pretty good idea who that woman was. She'd spent so many years searching for her missing birthmother that she'd recognize that get-up anywhere. But if that really was Raven Branwen, then what was she doing on that train? So many questions were swirling around in Yang's head that there was no way she'd be getting back to sleep any time soon.
'I need to get out and clear my head,' Yang finally decided. So, with a sigh, she climbed out of bed and quietly changed into her usual attire. Afterwards, she left the dorm room and went to retrieve her Ember Celica bracelets from the locker room (just in case anything crazy happened again) and went out for a walk. No sooner than when she went outside did Yang spot something that made her do a double-take.
"You gotta be kidding me…" Yang muttered in shock. Crouching on a distant rooftop was the same masked woman that Yang had glimpsed on the train. The figure stared back at her for a moment, as if considering her actions. She seemed to have reached a decision as she leaped off the roof and made her way elsewhere. "Wait!" called out Yang as she immediately pursued.
The masked woman led Yang on a short chase through the campus grounds, sometimes destroying any security cameras nearby. Before long, the blonde huntress-in-training found the masked woman again. This time, she was simply standing at the end of the courtyard, the streetlights dimly illuminating the area around her. She was watching Yang, as if expecting her to approach. Yang chose to do so with more caution than usual, not wanting to walk into another embarrassing beatdown.
She walked as calmly towards the masked woman as she could manage. However, Yang could still feel her heart racing. If she was right, then this woman was the one who abandoned her shortly after she was born. The woman that neither her dad nor Uncle Qrow had ever been willing to tell her much about. This could be either her chance for answers and some closure or a deadly trap. She stopped at a safe distance and stared the masked woman down. After taking a deep breath, Yang steeled her eyes and looked at the red-clad woman through the slits in her mask.
"Who are you?" she finally asked, wanting to confirm her suspicions. The woman slowly removed her mask, revealing a face that looked much like Yang's own. The woman's crimson eyes looked upon the blonde, full of smugness and just a hint of familial pride. The sight caused enough pent-up anger and resentment to surface for the blonde's own eyes to flash the same shade of red.
"Yang," spoke the woman, "we have a lot to talk about." There was a pause until Yang took a deep breath and looked her estranged mother in the eye.
"Then start talking," Yang finally let out. "Why are you here?"
"Can't a mother just want to check on her daughter?" Raven asked with a smirk.
"Since when have you been doing that?" Yang asked back, barely able to stop herself from choking up. "You walked out on me and Dad right after I was born! Now, I'm supposed to believe that you actually care about me!?"
"I saved your life!" Raven slightly raised her voice. "And you haven't so much as thanked me."
"Thanks," Yang retorted. "But was I really the reason that you were there? Dad and Qrow told me a long time ago that you're dangerous. So what? Were you actually with the White Fang, and I got too close?"
"I'd never work with them!" Raven nearly yelled. "Not when they work for her!" A bitter hatred oozed from her voice as she mentioned that last part. Fury was burning in her eyes. Yang couldn't help but wonder who she was talking about, but Raven composed herself and continued before the blonde brawler could ask about it.
"Anyway," Raven continued, "I honestly wish that it had been just for you. But I have another reason for being here, as well as the underground ruins. I'm searching for the Keyhole." Yang raised her eyebrow in confusion, and Raven chuckled. "Not the kind that you're thinking of. This Keyhole could lead to the fate of our world. But Remnant is so large that it's been difficult to find. Especially since…" Raven trailed off and looked slightly down, her expression giving way to sorrow before she hardened it again. "Either way, it needs to be found soon, and you can't count on Ozpin to do so when he's focused so much on his own war."
"What are you talking about?" Yang asked, starting to get really confused. "What war?"
"There's so much that's been hidden from you. The truth about the huntsman academies, about the Grimm, about the other worlds, and even about your sister."
"What do you want with her?" demanded Yang, shifting her bracelets into their shotgun-gauntlet forms as a warning.
"Nothing," Raven replied, unfazed by her daughter's weapons. "But you need to question everything you've been told. I have a feeling that you'll learn why in the coming days. Stars have been disappearing in the sky, which means Remnant itself could fall at any time. If that day comes, you'll need to remember this: guard your heart from the living shadows. And if you make it to the worlds outside, find the Keyblade. Whoever has it will be our only hope."
With that said, Raven drew her red-bladed sword and slashed the air behind her, creating a rift in space-time and momentarily shocking Yang. The ebon-haired swordswoman then placed her mask back on and took a step toward the portal.
"Wait!" called out Yang, cocking her gauntlets. "I'm not done with you!"
"But I'm done here," Raven countered, drawing her sword and holding it ready to defend herself. "I've already saved you once. But you shouldn't expect such kindness from me again. That's the code that I was raised on." She lowered her head before finishing in a sorrowful tone, "I'm actually pushing it just by giving you this warning. Goodbye, Yang."
Without another word, Raven Branwen backed into her portal, closing it after she disappeared. Yang was left frustrated and confused. She didn't know whether she could trust her birthmother's words or not. She didn't even understand what Raven was talking about. It frustrated her so much that she punched straight into the air, screaming as she released a blast of fire Dust. After taking a moment to calm down, the blonde considered the warning she'd just been given.
"Guard my heart? Living shadows?" Yang muttered. After pausing for a moment in thought, she shook her head. "Some mom that I've got." What even was a Keyblade, and who'd have one?
I've been having these weird thoughts lately
like is any of this for real or not?
Sora wasn't sure where he was or how he'd gotten there. All he could tell was that he was slowly falling through a black abyss with only a single, large ray of light shining down on him. It looked almost as if he were underwater, and he could almost feel the cold wetness around him. But at the same time, he felt dry, as if that made any sense. He could barely keep his eyes open as his body spun and dove quicker, leaving a trail of bubbles in his wake.
Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of light, and Sora found himself standing in a very familiar place. It was the seashore on the island where he and his friends would often play together. After shielding his eyes from the sun so that they could adjust, the 14-year-old boy spotted someone standing in the ocean with their back turned to him. He immediately recognized the baggy pants, yellow and black tank, and silver hair on his oldest friend, Riku.
Sora tentatively took a step to approach his best friend when he suddenly heard the sound of rushing water right below him. Looking down, Sora was shocked to see the waters rapidly receding. Recognizing what that meant, he looked back up to see a rapidly growing tidal wave heading straight for Riku. Even more shocking, the 15-year-old didn't seem to be bothered by the approaching tide and simply turned around to look at Sora.
With a confident smirk, Riku calmly held out his hand, silently offering for Sora to take it. Not understanding what the heck was going on, Sora rushed out as fast as he could to try and save his friend. To his horror, it was too late, and the wave came crashing down on the both of them.
Immediately, Sora was sent tumbling backwards underwater, scrambling to regain his balance. He couldn't see any sign of the beach anymore, and the waters seemed much deeper than they should've been. As Sora checked for any sign of Riku, he was surprised to see him now calmly floating in the water ahead, as if the currents weren't affecting him. Riku offered his hand for Sora to grab again, yet he made no effort to approach the spiky-haired boy himself.
Struggling mightily against the strong currents, Sora tried to reach his oldest friend again, but it was to no avail as the waters sent him hurdling. He lost all sense of direction as he was sent tumbling every which way. As everything darkened, Sora finally caught sight of the surface and the sunset sky. He burst out of the water, gasping for air as he gathered his bearings.
"Sora..." called a familiar voice that brought a smile to the boy's face. Standing on the beach where he'd just been, Sora caught sight of the familiar red hair and blue eyes of his other closest friend, Kairi. "Heeeeey!" she called excitedly as she waved to him, clad in a white tank top with some yellow armbands and a pinkish-purple skirt. Eager to see her again, Sora waved back and waded his way through the water to her. "Come on!" Kairi encouraged him.
As the boy finally got back to the shore, he hunched down with his hands on his knees to catch his breath. Kairi playfully smiled down at him with her arms behind her back. Sora returned the expression with a toothy grin of his own that made Kairi burst out in laughter. Nobody could make the boy feel more calm in a moment like this than she could.
However, their moment was interrupted as the wind picked up and some kind of red and white object suddenly flew around Kairi, startling her and then doing the same thing to Sora. Before he could make out any details on the large piece of fabric, it rapidly flew into the sky, bursting into a beam of light that shot towards a star. Once they gazed lower, the boy and girl could now see a meteor shower, along with someone falling from the sky. Kairi gasped at the sight, while Sora stared in confusion.
'Wait…' he thought to himself, 'That looks like—is that me!?' Sure enough, the person falling from the sky was indeed Sora himself. Before the boy could process the inexplicable sight before him, he suddenly lost his balance and fell. Kairi looked down in shock to find that the ground around them had disappeared and they were both in the sky. Sora helplessly fell head-first through the clouds, reaching out in vain towards Kairi.
"No!" the redheaded girl cried out as she reached out for him as well. Somehow, she was staying aloft, as if she were still standing on solid ground. Then she disappeared in a ripple, as if she'd been the reflection in a pond that had just been hit with a stone.
Sora was suddenly hit with a massive amount of sleepiness as he fell towards a light that shone like the sun. Right after that, he found himself falling right back into the watery abyss where this strange trip had started. At first, he was twisting and swirling around, but then his descent was slowed as he now found himself falling with his body facing up.
After fighting away his tiredness, Sora weakly opened his eyes and managed to right himself just before landing feet-first on solid ground. As he stood up, looking around himself, the boy couldn't make out anything beyond the single, faint beam of light that shined down on him. Not wanting to sit around for any other crazy thing to happen, he decided to start exploring.
Sora received a shock as he took a single step forward, only for an entire flock of doves to suddenly shoot into the air, flapping their wings frantically. The ground below them lit up, briefly blinding the spiky-haired boy. Sora watched around in awe as the doves flew off, disappearing into the dark unknown.
Looking back down, the boy could now see that he was standing on a huge, circular stained-glass platform. An image of a beautiful, fair-skinned woman with short black hair and clad in an old-fashioned dress, looking like a princess. Smaller images of some bearded old men and woodland creatures surrounded her as she closed her eyes and ate an apple.
Sora couldn't help but wonder just where he'd ended up.