RWBY Rose Reborn

Chapter 4: Impossible Choices

"COME BACK!" Yang tearfully shouted into the void, desperate her sister's spirit would hear her plea. Alas, after she had furiously expelled both Blake and Rose from this dimension with her anger, Yang was left all alone. This loneliness paved way for bitter frustration that ebbed away all of Yang's reason. Her hair burned as her golden aura shined as she bitterly growled, punching the mist-covered ground furiously.

"She cannot be with you anymore child." The blacksmith's voice echoed, but this only served to irritate Yang further. Rising to her feet, her red eyes glanced around, searching for the mysterious guide.

"SHOW YOURSELF! BRING HER BACK!" Yang demanded, but the smith never showed to her added frustration.

"If you cannot understand and accept the decision's of others, then perhaps it's time to make one for yourself?" The smith's voice rang in her ears as a glow shined behind her. Turning around slowly, each second she did making her heart skip a beat in anticipation, she soon eyed a golden case before her, clad in gold spikes with a wooden dragon on the top of the case. Yang felt a strange lure to the case as she took a few steps towards the glow. As she came face to face with shining case, the glow faded, revealing a crown inside, resembling the face of a demonic looking Chinese dragon.

"Wha-What is this? Why are you showing me this?" Yang called out to the void. The smith's voice resonated as it sought to answer her question, and provide warning. Though the smith internally doubted this girl would gain the enlightenment she truly needed, this being her second time here and all, she felt a glance at a like-minded being's life may provide her the necessary push to let go.

"This crown's previous owner was once a powerful soul much like yourself. This dragon king was the first creation I made. He once lived here in the Ever After, serving as the wise guardian who protected and guided its denizen's. Strong in body and will, he furiously faced threats ranging from storm to demonic monsters seeking to destroy his fellow Afteren's." The smith began saying.

"Grimm." Yang whispered.

"Ah yes, the dark one's children. You see child, the one's you call the Light God and the Dark God are not truly deities. They were in fact the children of the dragon king I created, mere grandchildren of the tree itself." The smith said to Yang's shock as her eyes widened.

"T-Then why haven't we seen any Grimm? And how did they even get to Remnant?!" Yang yelled, this was all starting to get overwhelming.

"You see the Dragon King, for all his noble qualities, had one terrible flaw. He was too protective of those he loved. He kept his children sheltered from the world, fearful of the dangers that might take them from him. At one point, the children of the Dragon King began to grow curious of the world they were denied to explore. Drawing upon the powers they inherited, they created beings to scout and share views of this planet. The light dragon created the cat that served as a guide, much like his father. And the children of the dark dragon, the Grimm, were also spread out and began to consume the denizen's of this realm, denying them a chance to ascend and be reborn." The smith said as Yang gasped in horror, covering her mouth with her robot hand.

"Why didn't the father stop him!?" Yang yelled.

"He in fact tried. Upon realizing where those monsters came from, the dragon king was outraged. Summoning his son's to his side, the king condemned them for creating and destroying without his permission. At that point, the brother's had seen so much of this world through their creation's eyes they had grown bored with it. They told their father they desired to leave this realm and explore different one's, maybe even create new ones." The smith said as Yang's eyes widened as she realized where she was going with this, or thought she did.

"They made Remnant." She whispered.

"Yes, they made many worlds in fact another benefit of their father and my powers." The smith said.

"And the king just let them go?" Yang asked.

"No. The king was so consumed by his fear that is overpowered the love for his children that fueled him. In his rage he demanded they stayed. The brother's refused, declaring they no longer wished to be his "prisoners" and assumed their dragon forms to face him. The battle nearly destroyed this realm and me. In the end, the brothers sadly had to destroy their father to gain the freedom they desired." The smith said before sighing sadly as they recalled what came next.

"But before they left this world the brother, so consumed by envy of his sibling's power and creations, decided to join his own creations into one single being, the Jabberwalker. It followed only one command, to deny the wills of the denizen's of this realm, to greedily eat the children of the light dragon." The smith sadly said. They were hoping Yang would take the hint from this story and soon drew upon their own power to summon 2 new cases beside her to her shock.

"Ember Cecilia? Crescent Rose?" Yang asked confused, and a bit frightened as both items and the crown glowed again softly.

"You now must choose child. Accept yourself and the decisions of others, become powerful enough to protect your desires, or remain trapped in the past, your loving memories of your sister." The smith stated.

Yang bit her lip as she heard these words. How could she be expected to stop being her? To stop caring about her sister? And what did she mean about becoming stronger for her desires?

"What do you want from me!? What am I supposed to do?!" Yang roared into the void.

"Choose. Accept and move on, or stay behind." The smith said. Yang grunted in frustration as she eyed the weapons. Her sister's was the most irritating to look at. No matter how much she looked at it, silently begging her to return with it, she knew deep down it was impossible. She couldn't get Ruby back so long as….

"Rose!" Yang bitterly growled, the dragon king's case glowing brighter behind her as she did.

"It's all her damn fault! She just had to take over my sisters body and leave her to play dress up with Ruby's body didn't she?!" Yang bitterly thought. Her case and Crescent Roses's case beginning to crack as she felt her blood boil.

"Why the hell did Ruby have to go?! Why the hell couldn't she just come back as herself?! We all wanted her back, we needed her not that Rose bitch!" Yang yelled, this "imposter" of her sister and whatever test this smith was putting her through making her rage reach its peak. As she was met with no reply this time, Yang finally had enough as she eyed all 3 cases, now all glowing as a dark thought crept into her mind.

"Well…If Ruby won't choose to come back to us, I'LL MAKE HER!" Yang yelled as she plunged her fists into the cases, shattering them and grabbing all the weapons within. Her eyes glowed and she roared a dragon's voice as she did so.

"I'M GONNA GET YOU ROSE!" Yang furiously roared as the realm was enveloped in a gold light.

Sister vs. Sister

The Golden Chinese dragon lunged towards, its large dragonic hand bearing its claws ready to slash at Rose as the young woman stood there speechless, too awestruck by the colossal being before her. She soon felt a sharp pain in her gut, but thankfully, not from those jagged claws.

"Rose look out!" Weiss yelled as she and Blake tackled her, just narrowly avoiding being trampled by the beasts claw as well.

As Rose got up after being pushed out of the way by Blake and Weiss, rubbing her aching sides and stomach with a groan, her eyes widened in horror as she spotted the large claw indent in the ground where she once stood. Her blood froze as she realized what this beast that was once her predecessors sister tried to do to her.

"Yang….tried to kill me?" Rose whispered, her tone filled with fear and sadness, her eyes flooding with tears. They were soon evaporated as the dragon gave off a massive aura of heat that almost singed her skin. The dragon Yang eyed the reincarnation of her sister and growled menacingly. Only a single thought traversed its mind as it did so.

"Kill her… get her back!" The beast thought. Grinding its teeth, the beast stomach soon glowed a light colored a mix of gold and red. Weiss and Blake recoiled as they realized what this meant.

"Take cover!" Weiss cried as she plunged her saber into the ground, desperately trying to summon a goliath to cover them, only for her aura to flicker and shatter as her skin paled.

"N-No…not now!" Weiss screamed as she realized something horrific. She was out of aura. Blake glanced at her teammates, frozen in fear as the dragon Yang slowly began opening it's mouth. Not that she blamed them, their one chance at protection before them was gone, they were about to be consumed by those flames protruding out the side of what was once her lovers mouth. Blake, in what she felt was her last moments, rubbed the lips that once connected with Yang's tenderly. Tears stinging her eyes as the reality her girlfriend was really going to kill her sank in. As she saw Dragon Yang jerk it's head backwards, preparing to unleash her fiery wrath, Blake mustered all her will to shout her feelings right now to the beast.

"YANG PLEASE DON'T! I LOVE YOU!" Blake cried, but her ears went down and she winced as her plea went unheard, deafened by the furious roar of the dragon.

"GIVE BACK!" The dragon bellowed as it unleashed a stream of gold and red colored fire at the trio, or more specifically, her main target Rose.

The piercing sound of both Blake and the Dragon nearly ruptured Rose's eardrums, snapping her out of her shock. With that loss of fear soon came a wave of anger that rushed into her, making her blood boil from it rather than the flames drawing ever closer to her and her friends whom she spared a glance at.

"I'll save you, it's what a huntress does, it's what Ruby would do I just know it." Rose thought as she plunged her fist into the ground to the girl's confusion. Before they could so much as open their mouths to utter a question, the ground in front of them ruptured, unleashing a massive wall of thorns that blocked the stream of fire, each vine being replaced with a new one after being incinerated in the girls stead.

"Who! Since when can she do that?!" Weiss yelled in shock. Rose couldn't help but smile brightly and giggle.

"My semblance lets me control plants and manipulate my body using them. That's how I could use Petal Burst like Ruby. Helps even more where in a massive tree, so I can do THIS!" Rose yelled as she waved her hand. On cue, the bark off nearby small trees and logs peeled off and levitated in the air before being condensed into the shape of small wooden swords. Blake and Weiss gasped as they saw Penny's image in Rose's stead, those blades look just like their fallen friend's.

Jaune winced as he saw this as well, his hand holding his rusted sword trembling. Penny flashed through his eyes as well, but not as that strong android girl who faced Pyrrah at the Vytal Festival. No, all he could see as he glanced at his blade was her human self, that weak dying little girl bleeding profusely from her chest that Cinder stabbed….the chest she asked him to stab.

That night on the bridge, Jaune had been trying to heal her with his aura, but no matter how much pressure he put on her chest, those 3 bloody holes wouldn't close, her aura wouldn't shine. He had screamed with her to stay with them, begging her in fact as he couldn't stand to see another friend die. But nothing could have been more horrifying and painful for him to see or hear than what she asked next.

"There's not enough time to heal me *cough*….but there is for one thing." Penny had said to him as she weakly pointed to his sword.

Jaune's younger self recoiled at the suggestion. She was seriously asking him to kill her?!

"No! W-Weiss will buy us time she'll-" He stuttered and tried to protest, but a scream from Weiss as Cinder knocked the Gambrol Shroud she picked up out of her hands and delivered a slash at her chest, shattering her aura. The blue dust sparkling off his friend stunned Jaune, nearly stopping his own breathing as he saw her being cornered. He knew she wasn't going to win, there wasn't going to be enough time like Penny said. As he glanced down at her, he was perplexed to see a weak smile from that pale face. But the bags under her dull green eyes showed how much weaker she was getting, how close to death she truly was. There was no time left, but he still couldn't fathom the though of…..until she weakly raised her hand and touched his scabbard.

"Please *painful wince* She can't get the relic and my power. Let me choose….this one thing." Penny said as her hand went limp, she felt death approaching closer. Jaune could see it too, as well as his own terrified eyes as his face reflected off his drawn blade. As much as he wanted to scream at her in rage for suggesting such a thing, the screams of pain from Weiss as Cinder kicked her away filled his ears, shattering that anger. As he lifted his blade, panic and sadness fueled Jaune as tears streamed down his face. It didn't help that Penny was still smiling at him kindly, it didn't help that Cinder had forced him to do this…it didn't help that he couldn't help save anyone! With a painful screech, Jaune plunged the blade into Penny, his cries horrifying everyone nearby as they saw the blood drip from his blade.

Back in the present, Jaune gagged as he saw blood drawn from small cuts on dragon Yang, averting his eyes as he once more glanced at his rusted sword. But Jaune didn't see rust, all he could see was her blood….Penny's blood.

"I-I can't I….I can't do that again please!" Jaune whispered in fright. He couldn't fathom killing another friend after what happened that night. It still haunted every dream he had in the last 20 years, it made sleep a terrifying battle for him. But cries of anguish from his friends as they faced Yang in this battle made him gasp in fright.

Weiss was being covered by Rose as she kept waiving her wooden swords at the dragon. Weiss charging a ball of red lightning from Fury Rose aimed at the beast, who narrowed it's gaze bitterly at the sight and swiped at them with it's tail, ending the attack before it could began.

Blake was also tearfully swinging from Yang's arms with Gambrol shroud as a clone was pulverized, landing on her back and trying to slash away at it furiously.

Jaune could only give a somber look at his friend's tearful attack. It was useless, her blade not even leaving a scratch as it bounced off the hard aura protected skin, but she didn't care. All he saw on her was pain and misery. He couldn't imagine how bad it must feel to see your loved one change into a monster and disregard you, even try to kill you. It was in that moment, that instance that the Dragon Yang swatted Blake off her nonchalantly and began charging its breath again that Jaune knew what he needed to do. He had to put down his old friend lest she put them down. Whistling to Juniper, the Rabbit Deer galloped towards him, leaning its head to its side from his to quickly grab it's antlers and jerk his body upwards and mount it. He eyed the chest area of the Dragon, seeing Yang's and Ruby's glowing weapons cover it. He knew they must have guarded the weakest part of the dragon. If his team was to end Yang's selfish rampage once and for all, they were going to have to shatter them first.

"Please…forgive me for this Yang." Jaune bitterly thought as his foot gave a light kick to Juniper's side, a command the deer had memorized to jump and lower its head. Jaune used his friend's head as a stepping stool to launch himself towards Dragon Yang. Giving off a warcry, he plunged his rusted sword underneath the skin that held Ember Cecelia, locking the weapon into chest area and making Yang bellow in pain as her head jerked upwards, releasing her breath of fire into the air and avoiding her old friends who eyed Jaune shocked as he was swatted towards them during Yang's outburst of pain.

"Are you okay friend Jaune!?" Rose asked concerned. Jaune grit his teeth and averted his gaze in shame as he saw Penny flash before Rose when she asked that. Her tone, her behavior, even a bit of her looks reminded her more of the girl he killed rather than Ruby. He didn't know what pained him more, until Dragon Yang angrily roared in their direction. He knew she was going to make them hurt if they didn't stop her.

"No. I'm not alright. I have to do this again damnit!" Jaune bitterly yelled.

"What do you have to do again Jaune?" Blake asked fearfully, despite knowing in her heart what the answer was. Jaune paused a moment, but no matter how much he ran this through his head, he knew it was never going to be easy to hear. Might as well rip it of quick like a band aide.

"Yang's too far gone. We have to put her down girls." Jaune whispered to the girl's shock, horror stained on their faces as they heard this declaration.

"We can't kill her! How the hell could you even suggest that!?" Blake yelled in anger.

"We have to save her is what we need to do!" Rose said firmly, the mere notion of killing a friend disgusted her and she didn't want to even entertain the idea.

"Rose is right, she's just…just-" Weiss nervously said, knowing firsthand from witnessing what Jaune did at the bridge what his reasons and justifications were, but desperately trying to will out a protest for her friend's sake before being cut off by a cold tone and stare from Jaune.

"Not right in the head? Then how are we going to get through to her?" Jaune coldly asked. All 3 girls went silent as they heard this, frowns plaguing their faces as they pondered his question and eyed the flailing dragon before thim.

"ROSE! TURN BACK!" Dragon yang bellowed as she glared at Rose, who winced as she heard this. A sense of guilt etched into her heart as she eyed the weapons lodged near Dragon Yangs, especially Crescent Rose.

"This is all my fault isn't it?" Rose sadly asked as she hung her head. Her question drawing sad eyes from the group, except Blake, who could only bitterly glare at her.

"Rose you can't blame yourself for this. Yang's just throwing a tantrum because she's selfish." Weiss argued, but a somber stare from Rose froze her in place, getting rid of the will to utter a single word more as she pursed her lips.

"She's throwing because she can't stand me. All this happened because I killed Ruby Rose, took her place in this world huh?" Rose asked. The second she did a hard slap echoed through the area. Rose winced as she rubbed her red cheek as pain pulsed through it. Her heart, however, ached worse as she came face to face with her attackers bloodshot eyes filled with cold rage, Blake.

"THAT'S RIGHT! All this is your fault!" Blake cried angrily. Jaune and Weiss got in between the two girls, the former grateful dragon Yang was still fidgeting in pain and trying to dislodge his sword from underneath her chest area, lest it be the perfect time for her to incinerate them. Blake just glared at them bitterly in response.

"Why?" She uttered.

"Because she's our friend and innocent in all this." Weiss said as she scoffed at Blake's question. The cat Faunus fumed as she heard those words.

"Innocent?! Don't you dare defend her! If she hadn't just given up and offed herself then this never would have happened. I'd still have Yang here as herself!" Blake cried, but Weiss and Jaune gave her a stern glare in response.

"We are in this mess right now because THAT line of thinking. Rose isn't Ruby and that thing ISN'T YANG ANYMORE!" Jaune yelled furiously. His declaration drawing tears from Blake's eyes as they widened in shock hearing this. Jaune could only sigh bitterly as he saw this, hating to say what needed to be said.

"I miss them too. Pyrrah, Penny, Ruby…Yang. We lost. We lost them. To Neo, to this world, to our own hands." Jaune sadly said, Blake tearfully hung clasped her head as she began to grow overwhelmed with sadness hearing this, silently cursing herself for her selfishness.

"What do you mean our hands Jaune?" Rose asked sadly.

"Rose, you and that beast over there were born because we didn't try to understand Ruby or Yang's feelings. We weren't able to help you both when you really needed it. We failed you both." Jaune sadly admitted.

Rose couldn't so much as utter a peep as she heard this startling information. Her chest tightened as a strange pain overcame her. She didn't remember much about Ruby, barely even knowing her beyond vague memories. But what she did see was how much she meant to this man, to these girls as the looks of sadness that plagued their paces filled her with shame. She always viewed that girl as a failure, a stain on her soul that brought her strife due to the sadness Ruby's soul and memories of her last days consumed her frequently. Now all she could think was how horrible she felt having essentially replaced her, and not even caring about how these people felt as a result. Of course Yang was going to be mad her sister was gone, of course they all didn't want her in Ruby's stead. She was an unwanted existence.

"Then…I won't fail you this time. I'll put an end to both failures here and now." Rose tearfully said as grabbed Fury Rose from Weiss and ran towards the dragon before they all could even process what she meant. They reached out their hands and cried for her to return, but it fell on deaf ears. She screamed as she held out her own arm, summoning thorn vines that latched onto Dragon Yang, stabbing into her skin as she painfully roared as was brought to ground level, pushing her body upwards to avoid being pressed to the floor completely, yet this exposed her chest area.

"Ruby! Give back!" She growled as she eyed the girl responsible dashing towards her.

Rose just kept crying as emotions new to her overwhelmed her. Rage as she furiously screamed and slashed he axe away at the weapon's on Dragon Yang's chest, shattering them to pieces to the beast rage. Her dragon body heated up as her golden hair caught flames and she burned the thorns off her, freeing her as she stretched her wings out and blew Rose back a few feet with a hot gust of air, soon taking the skies.

Frustration ebbed away at Rose's reasoning as she simply pointed at the dragon angrily and had more roots try to ensnare her, only to be turned to ash as soon as they touched the hot body.

"GAAAH! JUST GO DOWN ALREADY!" Rose screamed as she charged another lightning ball from Fury Roses's canon form, disregarding she kept herself wide open and still in place. Jaune and the others saw this and realized what she was going for, but was now in danger as Dragon Yang began descending towards her.

"Rose move!" Jaune cried out, but she didn't hear him. Sadness and anger had ebbed away all reason within her as she cried broken sobs.

"Why would anyone love me instead of her." She whispered. Blake, with her sensitive hearing, gasped as she heard this. Guilt swept over her as she realized how unfair she had been to this girl. Ruby had chosen to be something new, she had chosen to embrace a new life, and Blake had chosen to ignore that. She had chosen to punish this girl for something beyond her control, for being something she never chose to be. With this realization, Blake bit her lower lip and got off the ground, whistling for Juniper who dashed towards her. Glancing at Jaune and Weiss, she gave a firm nod and they replied in kind, understanding her intention.

"We're not going to fail a friend again lets go!" Blake cried out as they jumped on the deer rabbit and bolted towards Rose. Blake could see the dragon version of her lover fly faster towards her though. There wouldn't be enough time to grab her, so she instinctively grabbed Gambrol shroud, her first thought being to jump from the deer and slash at the beast before her. As her hands grabbed the cold steel of the katanas hilt, she was startled as she felt a soft line rub against them. She glanced down to see her weapon's wire, and with it clicked an idea. Taking her wire she lassoed it around Rose to the girls shock. Yanking her arms with all her might, Blake pulled Rose towards them, the girl thankfully not letting go of Fury Rose as she narrowly avoiding having it and her crushed as Yang pounced at the spot she was previously at. As Rose huffed, letting that realization sink in, she finally felt her anger and sadness flush down as it was replaced with a shivering chill down her back as she knew death almost came for her. She glanced at her friends smiling warmly at her and soon felt that unease melt away.

"T-Thanks. I'd be dead if-" She tried to convey her gratitude, but Blake cut her off with a horrified look.

"SAVE IT AND DUCK!" Blake cried out as Juniper and everyone pressed their faces to the floor, narrowly avoiding another wave of fire sent their way.

"Just let me kill her!" Dragon Yang bitterly thought.

Dragon Yang grinded her teeth as she grew more irritated with the interference of catching her prey. She wanted this girl dead no matter what, even though she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She briefly paused in shock as she felt this.

"W-Why? Why am I doing this then?" The dragon thought fearfully. For what purpose did this all serve beyond desire?

Noticing the dragon's confusion, Jaune glanced at Rose, still holding her glowing red scythe axe, specifically the canon's hilt.

"Is it all charge up Rose?" Jaune asked hopeful. Rose nodded to his relief, though he soon groaned as he felt disgusted for being happy for what needed to come next, the endgame. Rose patted his shoulder and gave a sad look to him as she sensed his discomfort.

"I don't like it either, but this needs to end. Now, can you all hold her down while I try to close in and fire? I need as much firepower and accuracy as possible." Rose firmly asked her friends. Rose sighed sadly as she knew this was a dangerous move. Not just firing a canon ball at close range for maximum explosive force, which could claim her life too, but at making such a request towards her friends.

As much as that and Roses sadness burdened them, the trio couldn't help but nod, knowing it had to be done. As Rose got off Juniper's back, Jaune and the others had the deer dash towards Dragon Yang. They were soon gripping their blades as the felt their hearts sink when eyeing their targets, those hands pressed into the wooden floor.

"Please forgive us Yang." They all pleaded in their heads as they lunged for those hands while Dragon Yang was still lost in thought. As she heard the footsteps approach her though, Dragon Yang soon snapped out of her stupor and eyed the swords of the trio. Just as she tried to charge of a fire blast again, her eyes widened as she looked up to see Rose flying towards her, sticking her tongue out childishly at her. Anger consuming the beast as she laid eyes upon the incessant act, the dragon let loose its fire breath at her, incinerating the image before her. But Jaune and the others smirked, looking back to see Rose just find and getting ready to strike. Neo just stood behind her and smirked as well, bowing her head in respect as her illusion did the trick as planned. Yang was paying them no mind anymore, just staring into space as she eyed the ashes of Neo's clone float in the air.

"N-Now…maybe she'll come back?" Dragon yang thought, a tear actually flowing down the corner of one of its eyes.

With a furious yell, the trio took advantage of this distraction and lunged, slamming their blades into the dragon's hands and latched them into the ground at full force. The dragon bellowed in pain as she jerked her body up, hands gushing blood as any attempt to raise them just brought it further agony, the simple minded beast not daring to keep moving them. Rose's eyes widened as she saw this; as she saw her chance.

"NOW MOVE!" She hollered her order, her friends nodding as they jumped back on Juniper's back as they saw Rose aiming her scythe axe at the beast and dash towards them. Juniper felt Jaune pat his head and knew from the motion which way it was suppose to go and dashed to the right, it's ears perking up as it saw a massive log that Jaune had cut during the battle with the curious cat. Knowing what he wanted, the deer rabbit Afteren hopped over the log and crouched down as its riders did the same, bracing themselves for the impact of Roses attack.

As Dragon Yang bellowed more in pain, Rose felt each step she took to get closer to her weigh heavier than the last. In the moment she aimed the lightning ball at the exposed chest area, she sadly sighed. She couldn't see a ferocious fire-breathing dragon anymore, all she saw was Yang, that sad angry girl so consumed by her desires for her sister back, the sister Rose felt she stole from her. With that thought, she lost all desire to run and avoid the damage of the impact, she didn't care if she died. She just wanted this all to be over, all the pain, the battle, Yang's misery. She felt it was her purpose to save the other's even if she couldn't save herself or Yang. As she pulled the trigger, she stole one last glance at the dragon bellowing in pain above her.

"Believe me friend. I get it now." She sadly sad as the ball of lightning fired from her axe at the chest area, consuming Dragon Yang's lower body in a ball of red light. As the beast roared in pain, its chest area's skin peeling off and showing its heart being burned to a crisp, Roses aura shined bright red and her mask and armor shined gold as she instinctively flexed all her defenses before being propelled onto the ground in front of the dragon, burns starting to seep through the defenses as she winced in pain.

Jaune and the other's heard the screams of anguish, but didn't dare raise their heads so longs as they felt the tremors of the blast rip through the air like thunder. One second would be all it took for their aura-less bodies to be incinerated; they just had to wait it out. They didn't wait much longer as the tremors shaking their bodies soon ended, though they still felt woozy from the after effects.

As they slowly stood up, supporting each other as they still felt wobbly from the earthquake, their eyes widened at the sight before them. Dragon Yang hung her arms to her sides limp as her red eyes had faded into a blank grey. Her jaw hung open as her chest area was had a massive charred hole in it, her heart completely incinerated. The mere sight of it all let them knew it was over….they had won at the cost of another friend though.

Blake fell to her knees as she buried her face in Weiss's lap as the heiress rubbed her head tenderly as the cat girl cried.

"S-She…*hic* she's-" Blake cried softly.

"Shhhh I know Blake. I know." Weiss tearfully whispered as she hugged her friend's head. Jaune could only grind his teeth in sadness and frustration at the sight.

"Damn it! Again. It happened again!" He bitterly thought, tears stinging his eyes as he eyed let the reality of what they did sink in.

"Penny, Ruby….Yang, I'm so sorry." Jaune whispered as he rubbed his eyes and stole another glance at Dragon Yang's corpse. He soon double-backed in horror as he saw the beast begin to topple over, having saw what was before the direction the dragon was falling.

"ROSE GET OUTTA THERE!" He cried in horror. Blake and Weiss gasping as they heard this, soon laying eyes on Rose laying down in the dragon's path. Blake could see with her vision better than the others though, the girl had burns on her exposed skin, the fire having burned most of her clothes. She was wincing in pain, obviously too sore from the impact of that ball of energy to move. As they all hopped over the log, desperate to make in time to grab their friend, their hopes were soon crushed along with Rose as the Dragon collapsed on her too quickly for them to react, a massive hole in the ground where the beast fell through with Rose was all they were left with.

"NOOOOO!" They all screamed as they eyed the chasm before them, seeing no sign of their friends bodies beyond that dark veil down the hole.

In the void…

The dragon squirmed as it lay on its charred stomach. Weakly raising its head, it was startled as it awoken to see a black void, devoid of anything but mist. Glancing around, it was desperate to find someone to help it. It roared constantly, even shooting off fire as it demanded help, but for what felt like eternity no one answered. The beast assumed a fetal position and closed its eyes, crying and shivering, as it felt weaker than it ever had in its life. For all its power it once prided itself on, it was lonely and needed help. It wanted someone around to comfort it, someone, perhaps it's family, whoever they may be.

What Are You?

A girl with blonde hair replaced the image of the dragon and shook her head as she heard these words in her sleep. As sleepy as she felt, she still couldn't help but weakly scoff at the seemingly ridiculous question. She was…she was…. wait, what was her name again?

The girl struggled to open her eyes with that fright, panting heavily. She couldn't understand why she lost the answer to such an easy question. She was a brawler from Patch. She grew up with a sweet little red haired girl named Ruby Rose. She was a huntress and had all these experiences at Beacon fighting for justice, for peace. She even lost her arm for a girl she loved deeply. There was no way she could forget all that, so why was her name of all things suddenly lost on her? And why was it suddenly hard to breathe all of the sudden?

As she felt her confusion and fear consume her, she willed herself with all her might to open her eyes, desperate to see where she was or find someone to answer those questions for her. Yang awoken in a glass class, her face reflecting off the glass and, to her horror, was blank. She went and touched her face with her hands in fright, being more confused as she felt her mouth and eyes as normal but still couldn't see them. But what she could feel soon horrified her, she felt both her hands, her human ones as they rubbed against her sweaty face.

"What the hell is this?" She yelled in fright, or at least tried. She heard no voice leak out of her, she couldn't find the strength to speak for some reason.

Reaching out and pounding on the glass limply, she tried desperately begging for someone to let her out, but no words came through. She was further shocked to see what laid on her arms as she performed this act, both ember Ceclia gauntlets. She had lost one of those when Adam cut her arm off, so how did she have them back? And where was her robot hand? Everything was so confusing for this girl trapped in her case, but nothing could have shaken her more than when that robot hand she oddly missed came plunging through the glass case and stabbed into her chest. Yang glanced down and saw to her horror the hand gripping her heart, her whole body aching as she struggled to scream, despite choking on her breath. This was nothing compared to the shock she received when she was the identify of her tormentor, it was herself?!

"If Ruby won't come back, I'll make her!" She heard herself speak as she did this. As she was yanked out of the case, she saw her other self place a crown on her head and grab her sisters scythe and their bodies soon glowed. As she stared into the bitter and sad look on her face, Yang soon felt her energy fade as a glowing light began consuming her, making her very body begin to disappear slowly as she headed towards the chest area of her attacker.

"No, don't do this. Ruby still needs you…I mean me? Just stop!" Yang cried as the light consumed her.

When have you ever listened Yang?

Suddenly Yang jerked herself up from the ground, panting heavily as she once more heard that mysterious voice. Resting a hand on something hard to support herself, she struggled to stand. The voice sounded so familiar, who was speaking to her? And how did she get here she had just been- Suddenly Yang gasped as she remembered being stabbed by her own hand, patting her chest, she did indeed find a hole on it, one covered in ash she found as she glanced down reluctantly. Above her bosom was a gaping hole riddled with black char and dried blood. Yang was perplexed how she was even breathing without her heart as she weakly plopped her back on the hard surface she used to stand before. But in the corner of her eyes, she met a large grey one and screamed in terror. She came face to face with a large dead dragon lying on its side, brandishing gold hair and the same burn mark on its exposed chest as her.

"I-Is that…me?" Yang fearfully asked. When looking around to see the void empty again aside from the two, frustration swept away her confusion for the most part.

"AAAGH! Can someone please just answer me!?" Yang screamed. She was startled by a sigh as she felt a presence behind her and darted around.

"I've been here the whole time Yang, you just never paid attention" a girls voice called out to her. Yang's eyes watered as she saw before her the spirit of her sister frowning at her disdainfully.

"R-Ruby!? Your ba-" Yang yelled joyfully as she tried to hug her sister, only to be slapped across the face by the brunette to her shock.

"W-Why did-" She tried to ask but was frozen in place, not by the pain of that attack stinging her cheek, but as her sister frowned bitterly at her and pointed at the dragon's corpse.

"Why? Because you got us killed over a selfish wish you dumb cow or should I say lizard?!" Ruby's spirit yelled angrily.

Yang slowly turned her head towards the corpse, choking on her breath as she soon eyed a woman's arm sticking out from underneath it.

"I…I killed us?" Yang whispered horrified.

Author Notes

Bonus chapter 5 is out as well, just wanted a nice cliffhanger. The burden of Jaune now passed to Blake and Weiss. What will become of our heroes as well as Yang and Rose as well?