Chapter Twelve

Doubt

/-\ Yang Xiao Long /-\

I stood opposite my opponent, slowly and methodically bouncing on my feet to keep my legs loose and nimble. She, however, remained flat-footed, clearly confident in her own abilities without the tricks I'd learned at the Fight Club all the way back in Patch.

I lunged forwards, trying to catch her off-guard with a lightning-quick attack. She sidestepped with ease, grabbing my arm and twisting it while her leg hooked around mine. In an instant, I was on the ground, pinned with her knee digging into my back. With a frustrated groan, I tapped out and she let me up.

We separated and went back to our opposite ends of the ring before squaring up again. This time, we slowly circled each other and I very much felt like a dog staring down a grinning tiger. She was first to move, sliding towards me. Instead of dodging, I leaned into the strike, trying to get inside the area she meant to hit. All I accomplished was being pinned again – she'd clearly anticipated my move, grabbed my wrist with her other hand, and flung me onto the ground.

I tapped out again and she helped me back to my feet. "Alright," she said. "I think I've got a handle on your skill level now."

I crossed my arms. "Piss poor?"

She shook her head. "No, you're good for a civilian, it's just…" she frowned. "You fight a lot like she does."

Just worse went unsaid. I didn't need any further explanation of who she was talking about – who else would I fight like except myself? She suggested we take five before moving on to our usual training. Ever since I was cleared for full duty, she'd adapted her so-called introductory huntress course to better reflect the trials I'd face. However, as I got the weights ready for a bench, I paused and looked towards Blake. "You… don't really talk about the other me that much," I said.

She paused briefly before setting the plate she was carrying on the ground. "I… try not to think of her, to be honest."

"What? Why? I thought she was your girlfriend."

A faint dusting of red appeared on her cheeks. "Partner. Combat partner. Each team is made up of two partner-pairs," she said. "We… weren't involved that way and it's probably better that we weren't. She lost her arm because of me and now she probably thinks I'm dead. It's…" she sighed. "It's probably easier for her to let me go. Not like I'll ever see her again anyways."

"Why in the world would it be better?" I asked. "Blake, I don't know the situation, but I'm sure you're not the reason she lost her ar-"

"Of course I am," she replied, bitterness in her voice. "The… the person that actually cut it off… he was only there because of me. He even said – to my face – that he would destroy everything I loved." She shook her head. "Now that I'm quote-unquote dead, he doesn't have a reason to do that. He'll leave her alone."

"Do you know that for sure? And even if he does, what about her?" I asked. "I know you don't exactly have a choice to just pop back into her life, but it sounds like you really care about her – knowing me, she probably cares about you too." In my head, I wondered what I'd do if Jaune suddenly came back to life. Once I got past the shock, I'd be overjoyed. But that wasn't going to happen – unlike with Blake, we… very much had a body. "Just don't write her off, okay? On the off chance you do see her again."

She looked away. "I… I'll… try, Yang."

I resumed loading weights onto the bar, continuing the workout as planned now that I'd had a little rest. We did squats, curls, clean, and several other things before I grabbed an empty bar and headed out to the track. This time of day, it was quite empty – something which I'm a thousand percent sure was on purpose from Bradford. Most everyone was already at their assigned jobs while I always had an evening shift.

So there I jogged for lap after lap with the forty-five pound bar resting on one shoulder. I still hadn't gotten up to the distance required nor the full weight, but I was working towards it, damnit. Blake ran right beside me, carrying the same weight. I knew it was much easier for her, but it was still encouraging. Even though we ran in silence, I could feel the tension slowly melt away with every step.

Eventually, when it was time to be done, we re-racked our weight bars and did some cool-down stretches. My legs were already jelly just from the fraction of the test I'd done today. Thank God for aura, I thought. For normal people, working out with this level of intensity, doing the same muscle groups every day, was a terrible idea. Aura, however, allowed everything to heal quicker, so I could work them more and get better faster.

As I sat on the bench, cycling between gulping down air and water, Blake took her spot next to me. "You're doing well."

I huffed. "I thought I got my ass kicked."

"You did, but you're still picking up on things quickly.'

"Is it gonna be quick enough, though?" I wondered. "Next batch of rookies gets here in two weeks. I barely finished the course last time and now I know I need to get fifth at worst."

She hummed. "That's up to you. Keep pushing yourself and I'm confident you can make it. If you push too hard, I'll reign you in – don't wanna spend any more time in the infirmary, do we?"

"Oh God, sitting still for that long was cruel and unusual punishment," I said. We lapsed into silence for a few moments. I took a few more swigs of water, reflecting on the progress I'd made. I glanced towards her – even after seeing her in action, it was still hard to believe just how skilled she truly was. She casually did things Olympic athletes would scoff at. And yet, with the amount of progress I was making… "Hey, uhh, question?" She hummed, turning back towards me. "So, you said it takes a decade plus to get where you're at, right? I know I was just complaining about not getting good fast enough, but it seems like I'm getting good a lot faster than that. Am I just imagining things, or what's up?"

"You aren't," she said. "Part of that can be explained by the fact that you're an adult who's really dedicated to improving themselves – that alone will shave a couple years off. But… there's also a thing we call the Plateau. After – usually – a month or two of training with aura, you'll start getting diminishing returns on it. Where before you would be noticeably better after just a couple weeks, after that, you won't see much change year-to-year. At least, until you clear the Plateau in eight or so years. You won't ever get better at the rate which you are now, but it does end. It's why we structure our schools the way we do – Combat School is three-quarters academic, from what I heard, the rest is just there to keep the kids getting better. A fifth-year student there is better than a first-year, but not overwhelmingly so. On the other hand, there's a noticeable difference between an Academy first-year and a Combat School fifth-year."

"Oh," I let out. "So… I just gotta keep at it."

She nodded. "Is that really so different from normal weight lifting?"

"No, I guess it isn't," I said, standing back up. "Let's get to it, then." I made it about ten steps before my legs started to get wobbly again.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. "I think you're done for today, actually. You still have your shift with Security in a few hours."

Groaning, I nodded. "I guess you're right… same time tomorrow?"

And that's how it went for the next few weeks. Blake and I would spar, ruck, lift, just do anything to improve my chances of passing muster. Blake even taught me the basics of her fancy swordsmanship, just in case it would help. In between workouts, I worked shifts in Security – most were split between being taught how to function as a soldier and actually performing duties. The days turned into weeks and I was left feeling almost completely unprepared for the trial ahead. I'd do my best regardless.

All that was left was to hope it was enough.

/-\ Weiss Schnee /-\

It wasn't often these days that I had a day off from Engineering, but today was one of those rare few.

Still, I'd already spent about half of it simply reading more and more enigmatic engineering texts – I'd gotten access to more after accepting the internship. However, my brain was practically on fire after so long of trying to piece together various bits of knowledge into something vaguely workable. So, for now, I'd picked up one of the many pieces of fiction scattered around the library, idly paging through it on a beanbag chair while my brain rested.

At some point, my eyes drifted off the page. This wasn't a particularly interesting book to me, too action-y and the characters were as deep as a puddle. Then again, I supposed I was to blame for that, picking a book with a cover that depicted a big muscly man dual-wielding machineguns. I blinked – what was I even expecting from this? Shaking my head, I decided that my brain was well and truly fried before putting the book back where I found it.

As I was on my way out of the library, however, I spied a familiar cat-eared girl reading something on one of the tables… alone, surprisingly. After a moment's thought, I changed course and headed towards her. She marked her page with a scrap of paper as I approached, one of her ears twitching. "No guards today?" I asked.

"I'm sure they're around, but they're finally giving me a modicum of trust," she said. "Can't tell you how much I've missed being alone, to be honest."

My shoulders slumped and I stopped pulling out a chair. "Oh. In that case, I'll just-"

"Wait, no!" she shouted. "I just meant it's nice to not have people hovering over my shoulder. I don't mind you staying to chat, if you want."

"If you're sure…?" At her nod, I sat down. "So, umm, it's been a while since we talked… what have you been up to?"

She shrugged. "Mostly helping Yang get ready for her next attempt at getting on a strike team – that and trying to find out all I can about your world. I've also been training Ruby a little, but not anywhere near as much as Yang."

"I know you have your reasons, but why not?" I asked. "From what time I've spent with her, Ruby seems like a good student."

She stared at me for a moment before shaking her head. "Well, I'm glad I don't have to deal with that again," she muttered. "Umm, to answer your question… she's not really in the right state of mind to progress well with auric training, nor does she really have a need for it. Unlike her sister, she doesn't seem to want to join a strike team."

"Fair point," I said. I didn't really know what orc training was, but it was probably the maddening reason why she could climb walls like a monkey. I blinked – was that a racist comparison? I quickly shifted my thoughts, scrambling for another conversation topic… "Umm, on the subject of Ruby, actually…" I started. "She's… remarkably good at engineering."

"She was in my world, too, though she mainly stuck to her ridiculously complex weapon. That's all she had time for, between the schoolwork, training, and the additional team leader courses."

I reflected on what I'd seen her do already. She wasn't amazing at reading blueprints or computing equations, but actually making parts? She was half-a-decade ahead of me. "Must be some weapon."

"Oh you have no idea," she said. "It's a sniper rifle-scythe hybrid that can collapse into a box about yay big." She held out her hands about three feet apart. "Huntsman weapons are all unique and usually complicated, but hers takes the cake. I thought my weapon was a pain to maintain, but then I saw her open up Crescent Rose after we got done with classes on the first day of Beacon."

She made an absolute masterpiece of machinery, I realized. In every world imaginable, Ruby Xiao Long is a savant with machines. "What about my weapon?" I asked.

"Yours was fairly simple, to be honest – it doesn't even have mechashift technology incorporated," she said. "But there's something to respect in that. After every use, yours only needs to be cleaned, maybe oiled up a bit. Fifteen minutes at the most, while the rest of ours need hours to do properly. Yours is essentially a fancy rapier with a revolving hilt for dust cartridges."

I did my best to make sure my disappointment didn't show. She's completely eclipsed me in both worlds, I thought. I'm the heiress to an engineering giant in both, but some country bumpkin is simply better. "...Oh," I muttered, standing up. "I, umm, thank you for the information. I'm… getting a little tired, so I think I'll call it a night."

She nodded, bidding me goodnight as I walked away.

While I headed towards my lonely dorm room, I reflected on the information she'd given me. Am I simply not working hard enough? I wondered. By the time I'd reached my destination, I needed to grab a tissue to dab away the wetness forming near my eyes.

I laid awake in bed for a while, that night, considering the possibilities. I wondered what I could have done differently to not be in the situation I found myself in. At every turn, however, I came to the sole conclusion that Father had prevented me from reaching the heights I should be at.

Father and… myself.

I was always so obsessed with the company… what did it even mean? I was already disinherited – just because I couldn't tell anyone I was alive didn't mean news didn't reach me. I wasn't making good progress with engineering to reclaim said inheritance… was this even the right path?

Shortly before sleep finally claimed me, I remembered my conversation with Corporal Durand the day I arrived. There was another path… was that the right one?

No, I thought. I may be behind Ruby, but I've studied auto design for years now. I just need the right kind of engineering to excel…

/-\ Ruby Xiao Long /-\

"I think we should all have a family outing," Mom just up and said one day.

None of us really had a reason to decline Mom's suggestion – we'd already finished with our engineering internship for the day and she wasn't on-call for any injuries that might occur. Qrow was already finished with his shift at Security as well. On top of that, it was the night before Yang's second attempt on getting into XCOM's strike teams and she was back early from her own shift.

So we headed out to the lounge as a family. It was fairly late, but they served food at all hours – as long as you paid their prices for it. The food was markedly better than the stuff you got at the mess hall, though – I suppose it made sense, given that stuff was free. We passed a couple guards on the way, both of which knew Yang and Qrow by name and wished my sister luck tomorrow.

The lounge itself was sparsely populated when we arrived. A few people sat at the bar while another trio stood at one of the pool tables, smooth jazz softly rolling through the room. Qrow grabbed us some menus as the rest of us sat down at a booth in the corner – adults on one side with Yang and I on the other. Penny was on-shift, unfortunately, so she couldn't be here with us. Eventually, someone came to take our orders.

"I need some Jack," Qrow said.

"I thought you were cutting back," Mom said.

"It's only one. I haven't had any since I left the goddamn cabin."

"Fine. One."

He rolled his eyes. "Thank you for your generosity, m'lady."

Yang gagged. "Please never say that again."

"No promises," he replied with a smirk.

We placed the rest of our orders without incident, thankfully. A few minutes later, our drinks arrived. I immediately started sipping at my strawberry lemonade as we all stared at each other in sile-

Mom cleared her throat, grabbing our attention. "So, umm…" she sighed. "Yang. You know my feelings about what you're doing-"

"And you know you can't stop me no matter what you-"

"I know that, sweetie, just… let me finish, okay?" she asked. "As I was saying, you know my feelings about it. But on the other hand… I know just how much it means to you and I know you've been working very hard for this opportunity," Mom said. "So I guess what I'm trying to say is… I hope you make the cut. Even if I don't want you to do this, this is about what you want. And I support you."

"...what?" she muttered, staring at our Mom for a minute. Eventually, she let out a sigh. "...thanks, Mom."

She nodded, sipping at her ginger ale. "The only thing I can honestly say I regret is that your father isn't here to support you as well."

All of us looked away for a moment. Though it had been well over a month since The Crash, the scars were still fresh. Qrow raised his glass. "Old man sure as hell didn't wanna go like that, but he's still watching over us. To Tai."

Yang was next to raise her glass of a virgin strawberry sunrise. "And Jaune."

My arm locked up mid-motion. Mom noticed as her glass clinked against the others. "Something wrong, Ruby?" she asked.

I jerked slightly, sucking in a quiet breath before clinking my own glass to the others. "N- no, I'm fine."

As we withdrew our glasses back to ourselves, Mom's eyes never left mine. I squirmed in my seat until she broke eye contact. "So, I found out something today," she said. "Did you guys know that there's a mindfulness class just over there?" She pointed to a private room, just on the other side of the lounge. "It meets every Thursday at noon. From what I hear, it's mostly made up of strike team members, since they can apparently help you stave off mind control, but anyone's free to attend." Her gaze slowly swept over to me for just a moment. "Anyone."

"Huh," Yang let out. "Guess it's probably a good idea for me to go… if I make it."

"Yeah, probably a good idea," she agreed.

I zoned out for a while after that. I heard them talking, sometimes laughing even. But my thoughts were only on one thing. I now knew of a way to stop what happened at Harvard from ever happening again.

On A Planet Far, Far Away

/-\ Ruby Rose /-\

The ground was cold… and hard… and… sticky?

I squirmed, groaning as I tried to get my hand away from the stickiness on the ground.

"Don't move too much," a male voice said. After a moment of drowsy confusion, I recognized it.

"Jaune?" I muttered. "Whaz goin' on?"

"...There was an accident," he whispered. "We… we almost lost you. There's so much blood…"

Blood? I thought. Finally, I opened my eyes to the grey skies above – grey skies and several concerned faces. Jaune was the closest, practically hovering over me as his aura shimmered. Next were Nora and Ren, each with hopeful looks in their eyes – Nora looked like she'd been crying recently while Ren's held barely restrained tears as well. Qrow was on the other side, looking more guilty than anything and Yang beside him was-

"Yang, why are you covered in blood?" I asked.

She sighed. "It's… it's not mine," she said. "I thought- I thought that Tyrian guy… I thought he killed you." Her bloody hand shook at her side. "I was just so- so angry, that I- I didn't bother stopping when Qrow broke his aura. He won't hurt you or anyone else ever again."

My heart shattered. Yang looked just like she did when I first woke up all those months ago in the house. I remembered the fight – how completely and utterly outclassed we were – and his stated goal of… abducting me. I wasn't sure how to process what she just did, but a small part of me was relieved I'd never have to deal with him again.

But that was a secondary concern. Yang looked like she was about to collapse. I reached up, pulling on her pantleg. She got what I meant almost instantly and fell to her knees, embracing me. She sobbed into my shirt as I weakly stroked her hair. Things were still a bit fuzzy feeling – like I was in a particularly lucid dream – but I held her all the same.

Eventually, she pulled away, wiping her face on the collar of her shirt. I tried to stand, but my feet were still too wobbly to make it anywhere, so we decided to camp out in these ruins for tonight. Yang didn't leave my side for a second – not to grab firewood, not to get food, not even to relieve herself.

Jaune later told me that he'd unlocked his semblance, but he'd used up so much of his aura in the fight that he just couldn't fully heal me yet. I still thanked him from keeping me alive, even as I took a damp rag to the bloody spike on Crescent Rose. My waist now adorned a bandage – the wound being mostly healed didn't mean it wasn't free from the possibility of infection, after all.

I turned in early after barely eating any food. Not only was I not hungry, but I felt violently ill after eating just a few bites.

Hopefully things will be better tomorrow, and then we can get back on the road.