Yellow - Guilt


guilt

/ɡilt/

noun

1. the fact of having committed a specified or implied offense or crime.

"I left Ruby in the forest… I left her there…"

verb [informal]

2. make (someone) feel guilty, especially in order to induce them to do something.

"Yang, just… go to your room… we'll find her…"


Guilt is… a parasite.

It just grows and grows while slowly killing you.

I shouldn't have left her…


Yang kept her eyes forward, walking briskly along the almost nonexistent path. The sun was setting and she had only now realized her mistake as the wagon squeaked behind her. Soon it would be dark and she wouldn't be able to find her way home, even if the path became clearer. That stupid lead probably wasn't even true; there was nothing in these woods except Grimm!

Lots… and lots… of Grimm… Yang quickened her pace as she tensed up, dryly swallowing and eyes darting around. Ruby being asleep in the wagon didn't ease her anxiety.

Red eyes peered out from the shadows forming between the trees and Yang's breath hitched. She slowly turned around, carefully picking her sister up out of the wagon and looking around. After taking a couple slow steps away from the monster, she ran. It didn't matter which way down the path she went, she wouldn't reach the forest edge regardless. The only thing on her mind was keeping Ruby safe and getting away from the Grimm on her tail.

Her heart beat in her ears and her legs and lungs burned like fire as she jumped over roots and weaved through the trees, slowly losing sight as daylight continued to fade. Soon she'd be blind in the darkness and get caught. The sound of snarling Grimm slowly faded further back, but not fully away. Yang slowed to a stop to catch her breath, leaning back against a tree as she used the rest of her strength to not drop Ruby even as her arms ached and started cramping. The Grimm were getting closer by the second; she needed to figure something out and act fast, but what could she do?

Light shone on a nearby tree that appeared to have a hollow spot inside, giving Yang the idea to hide Ruby in there. It would be quicker to run for help without the extra weight and the Grimm wouldn"t find her while she was asleep. She tucked her sister into the tree as carefully as possible and got away quickly, making some noise to attract the Grimm towards her direction but not directly to her. Her plan to run straight only worked for so long though. Grimm drew nearer as she ran and she ended up running off her intended path, subsequently getting even more lost than she had been before.

With her only source of light gone, she tripped on a root and went crashing to the ground, knocking the air out of her. She looked back to see a Beowolf lunging at her and threw her arms up in front of her. A gunshot rang out and the creature's body hit the ground with a loud thud, slowly turning back into the sludge it formed from and dissipating. Yang peeked through her arms, seeing a tattered red cap in front of her. She looked up at her uncle and watched in awe as he fended off the Grimm. Any stragglers strangely fled after the first group of them were killed, but their odd behavior wasn't a concern to either of them.

Qrow put Harbinger away and turned to Yang, picking her up, "What're you doing out here, kid? Your dad's worried sick about you. And where's your sister?"

Yang's anxiety returned full force as she remembered hiding Ruby away then getting lost, "I hid her-! But- but I got lost and I don't know how far I ran and I don't know how long it's been since I put her there and-" She was cut off before her rambling spiraled out of control.

"It's okay, it's okay, we'll find her. Where'd you hide her?"


The two retraced Yang's steps as quickly as they could, eventually making their way to the hollow tree only to find it empty. Qrow wasn't going to let Yang stay out in the dark forest for much longer and had to forcefully drag her back home as she cried hysterically about losing Ruby. She fell asleep along the way and woke up in her bed with Zwei curled up next to her.

Taiyang and Qrow searched the forest for Ruby, other huntsmen and neighbors joining at their request, but to no avail. The only thing they found was a piece of Ruby's cape hanging on a branch much taller than she was. The initial thought was that Grimm had found her, but they would've found more than a small piece of fabric had that been the case. After weeks of searching, the conclusion was that Ruby had been found by someone and taken away. Numerous missing posters were put up all around Patch and- after getting permission from authorities- around most of Vale. But she was never found; no one even saw her around the area.

Yang's guilt ate away at her day after day, leading to her development of unhealthy habits such as becoming violent if her loved ones are harmed. Qrow did his best to help her during her time in combat school, but there was only so much he could do when she pushed him away. People often kept their distance from her due to her violent outbursts. Except a first year girl she met in her third year at Signal who quickly became her closest friend, albeit her only friend.


"Yang-?"

The blonde paused and stared at her now former classmate, who looked between her and the man she'd just thrown through the club window. She scratched her neck, "Rakaia-! Uhm… please don't tell my uncle?"

Rakaia only gave a judgmental side glance, "Don't tell him what? I didn't see anything."


A/N

I wanted to post these all at once instead of one at a time cause I knew I'd never get anything done if I didn't. MVT is still in the works I'm just extremely indecisive about what I wanna do in what order. I'm gonna get a bit silly with this one though :3