It was late in the evening by the time the bus pulled into town, dark clouds rolling in overhead the low rumble of thunder echoing overheard followed swiftly by a split-second flash of lightning far out into the bay, the first few drops of rain already beginning to land against the window he was looking out of. Alex grimaced at the sight, he'd heard storms in the northeast of England could be bad -not on the same level as any of the hurricanes or typhoons they could get back home- but you still didn't want to be caught out in it.
Reaching into his pocket Alex retrieved his phone and began scrolling through his messages, getting a line to the captain hadn't been easy, he'd dropped off the grid after leaving the Plumbers. His old squadmates had lost contact with him around that time and the files he'd been able to dig up on him from the system back in Belwood had been heavily redacted.
Initially, he'd considered that the end of his search. They didn't have time to go chasing ghosts not when they were already low on manpower and what little they had was being directed towards trying to get everything ready for the expedition to Remnant.
Speaking of, Vanessa had managed to recruit Kriel and his engineering teams for the op setting them to work on repairs and the necessary retrofits to the ship and its facilities. Akira and Owen on the other hand had turned their attention towards recruiting others to the cause, the former searching for a doctor and medical team, while the latter was on the hunt for a team of dedicated science officers.
Considering the amount of fights, they were bound to get into while planet side, and the possible leagues of uncharted space they'd be dropped headfirst into both were a must if they were to ensure both their own survival and operational effectiveness once they arrived above Remnant. At this point the crew they had numbered a little over twenty-five, however, they'd need at least twice as much as that if they were going to do anything effective once they made it to Remnant.
It was slow going, but that was probably for the best, what they were doing could be considered treason and if word got out they were all looking at being Court Marshalled.
With stakes like that, he couldn't blame people for turning them down not when they had families and livelihoods to worry about. However, the knowledge the Psycho Rangers were still out there, alive and well, helped ensure those same people stayed quiet about this, even a bad plan was better than just ignoring the problem like High Command seemed content to do.
Then around a week ago he got a call from an unknown number, turns out his little excursion into the plumber network hadn't gone completely unnoticed. Ironically, the one who found him out happened to be the verry man he'd been looking for and had wasted no time arranging his trip across the Atlantic for a sit-down.
Leaning back into his seat Alex tapped the conversation icon between him and the Cap, pulling up their most recent messages.
XXXXX
Whitby, The Black Horse
9:00 PM
Make sure you're not followed.
XXXXX
Alex glanced up at the time in the top right-hand corner comparing it to the one outlined in Butcher's message.
'8:35'
'Cutting it a little close.' He thought to himself bitterly, Wayland had gone out of his way to set this whole thing up, so it wouldn't exactly look all that good on his end if he couldn't even show up on time. Glancing up at the road ahead Alex could see his stop approaching signalling the driver with the button by his seat, Alex tucked his phone back into his pocket as the bus pulled into his stop.
Pulling his hood up Alex rose from his seat and began making his way down the aisle towards the exit. Offering a grateful nod to the driver as he passed the Omni ranger stepped off onto the cobbled footpath the icy coastal wind whipped across his face forcing its way past the collar and hood of his jacket, sending a shudder down his spine.
Huffing out a breath Alex looked down at his phone one more studying the map intently, it didn't take long to find the marker for his bus stop and from what he could tell the black horse was only a few streets away Plotting out the quickest route in his head he looked at the time once more before pocketing his phone and starting to make his way down the cobbled street.
As he walked he couldn't help but admire the almost medieval style of the buildings, the various stores and restaurants that dotted the way some as modern as he'd seen back home others that had embraced the mystique that was said to surround the old fishing town. Tales of vampires, dark rituals and spectres people claimed to have seen walking the coastline at the moonlight hour.
Not to mention the ruins of the old abbey that stood atop the hillside overlooking the town and much of the coastline. Crumbling as it maybe he couldn't help but feel it helped highlight the aura of mystery that surrounded the whole town, especially on a night like this, it was almost as though the whole place had popped off the pages of some gothic novel.
Cutting through one of the side alleys into the next street over he looked up to his right, there on the corner he caught sight of a sign swinging back and forth in the wind, the light of a nearby streetlamp casting an orange glow on an artist illustration of a black stallion, the words Black horse Inn printed out in gold beneath it 'There you are' Alex though glancing down at his phone once more.
'8:55'
Slipping his phone back into his pocket, the Omni Ranger picked up the pace hurrying his way down the street he pushed open the front door and stepped inside.
Pulling down his hood Alex took a moment to examine the interior, the floor was covered in a faded dark red carpet made up of swirling patterns resembling a set of flowers and vines. The walls were plastered with various posters, paintings and nicknacks of all kinds relating to the town's past, an ornate fireplace sat at the far right side of the room, and at the verry centre of the room sat the bar itself, a long oak island lined with the different liquors on tap behind which sat a set of three shelves occupied with various spirits. Above the bar itself was a steel rack where what looked to be the majority of the glasses were stored.
All in all, it was almost identical to one of those stereotypical British pubs he'd seen on TV back home.
Those inside spared the newcomer a glance before returning back to their own conversation and drinks, while the middle-aged woman behind the bar eyed him as he approached, taking a seat at one he looked up at her opening his mouth to speak, though she cut him off with a stern look "Before I serve you I need to ask, you have ID on you?" She inquired.
"Sure" Alex replied pulling out his wallet he pulled out his ID and passed it over to the bartender, her stern expression relaxing if only slightly at the sight of the small plastic card. "And I'll take a coke, please."
"U.S. huh?" She mused sliding it back across the bar to him. "You're a long way from home." she added retrieving one of the glasses from above she stepped off to the side towards the nearest soft drink dispenser. "If you came for a holiday you definitely chose the wrong time of year for it, thunder and rains forecast for the rest of the week."
I'm not sticking around long." Alex replied fishing out a Ten Pound note from his wallet in anticipation of the bartender's return. "Just came to see an old friend, Mr Wayland."
"Simon? He mentioned he was meeting someone here tonight." Setting the glass down in front of him, she leaned forward on the bar eyeing Alex curiously. "How do you two know each other?"
Alex took a sip of his coke before answering "He mentored me for a while when I first started working." It wasn't a total lie, but it wasn't exactly far off from the truth either.
"How'd that go?" She asked a knowing glint in her eye.
"Brutally" Alex replied honestly. "He runs a tight ship I'll say that much, doesn't tolerate slackers and expected everyone to pull their own weight, unless you want to risk a boot up the ass." The two shared a small chuckle.
"That hardly surprises me he's a firm man, but also a fair one" The bartender flicked her head off to the side toward the open doorway to the right of the bar leading further into the building "I saw Simon step out a few minutes ago on his phone, you can wait for him in his booth, back right-hand corner." She pointed off towards one of the more secluded areas of the pub.
"Thank you." Alex rose from his seat, picking up his drink he offered the bartender one last nod before turning and making his way across the room to the corner she'd pointed out to him. True to her word there was an empty booth with a half-drunk pint and ash trash waiting for him its contents still smouldering. Slipping into the seat across from the empty slot Alex set down his drink and immediately reached for his phone, checking if what the bartender had seen hadn't been Wayland forwarding him more details.
Tapping on the messaging app he scrolled through the message thread but didn't see any new notifications pop up, he glanced at the time once more before turning his attention back towards the message window, tapping the keyboard icon he had just begun typing his own message confirming he was here a deep, gruff and scratchy voice spoke up to his left "...Wasting your time on that."
Alex stilled, his eyes widening for a moment before stuffing his phone back into his pocket and straightening up, he sat at attention as the owner of the voice slipped into the seat across from him.
The right side of his face was fine if grizzled from years of exposure, his left side however was a different story. An intricate patchwork of jagged scars and burns stretched from his adams apple up and over his jaw and across his cheek. His eye while bloodshot had been miraculously spared barring a slim scar that slid up through his eyebrow and over his temple disappearing into his hairline.
"Captain Wayland" The Omni ranger greeted.
"Fissure..." The ex-commander replied in kind his tone talking on a slight edge with his next words " You really stepped in it this time lad, what the hell were you thinking trying to brute force your way through the plumber network" He leaned forward fixing his former protege with a narrow glare, he hissed out "Your lucky the security encryption I put on my file were the only ones you tripped, or you'd be explaining yourself in front of a tribunal right now rather to me."
When he first caught wind of the breach, his first thought was that this was someone from one of his old cases who had decided to take a crack at him now that he had been taken out of the game, so to speak.
Not that it would have surprised him, he'd put plenty of people away over the years, and just as many more in the ground. With that in mind, it was only a matter of time until one of them finally worked up the nerve to try their hand at revenge, not that they'd make it very far if they tried. He'd made sure to keep his skills sharp since leaving the plumbers behind, so if anyone was gunning for his head, they could be sure he wouldn't go quietly.
What he hadn't expected, however, was to find one of his old proteges having a route around some of the most classified Plumber documents on the system.
Alex nodded back slowly. "I know" As though he hadn't already been kicking himself over it for days now, not to mention the heat he got from Issac and Akira when he let them know someone knew he'd been snooping around in the plumbers' systems. "But in my defence you're not exactly the easiest person to track down."
The former alpha division commander leaned back in his chair "I like my privacy." Wayland replied taking a steady sip of his pint, he had more reasons than most to keep a low profile nowadays. While he might have been afforded some form of protection as part of his "retirement", it was always a good idea to take some additional precautions, just in case.
"Which is something you put at risk digging around those files like you did." He shook his head disappointed, not only was it a sloppy job, but if it'd been a field operation that could have cost him not only the mission but lives as well, which was rather telling in his opinion. "So now I'm curious to know what has you, so wound up enough to try something like that?"
Alex looked down into his drink his face reflecting back at him, trying to find the words to explain what was going on, he eventually decided on the simplest answer he could give "Psycho Rangers."
Wayland cursed silently under his breath "This about the base attack last year?"
"You know about that?"
Wayland leaned forward onto the table "I might not wear the badge anymore, but I like to keep up to date on the goings on planet side." He had contacts inside the base and the surrounding sector that kept him up to date on traffic moving through the system and helped him circumvent the narratives the bureaucrats in charge liked to push when it hit the fan, which it had that day. "Official reports said they launched an attack on the base but were fought off by the troopers on sight. But from what I heard trickling down from above, they escaped through a modified null-void projector into an uncharted sector of space, and you followed them through."
"I did but where I followed them it wasn't some far-off galaxy, but... look it's going to sound out there even by our standards but a different universe to our own." Alex clarified; he watched his old commander's eyes narrow a contemplative expression passing over him as he took another sip of his drink.
"It's not as unbelievable as you'd think." And it would definitely explain the gag order that had been issued to every plumber that had been on earth both at the time of the attack and when four young women had been reported to have returned alongside Fissure and the Blond he hung around with. "I know Max's grandson has been involved in a few cases like yours, though it's the first I've heard of people from the other side making their way back here."
"That's mostly my fault" Honestly a lot of what had befallen Team RWBY and the others back on Remnant could be linked back to him and his fight against the Psycho Rangers. "The four of them were helping me in my investigation and we found evidence of a plan to attack one of the cities on their world by a terrorist organisation the Psycho Rangers were backing."
Alex told him of the events of the breach, the train bombing, the Grimm set loose in the city and their encounter with Psycho Red and Black that resulted in the six of them being sent back to earth. How Magister Tennyson had been making arrangements for an expedition to Remnant, how the Six of them had returned to Remnant with Ben and Rook in toe the two acting as advances scouts for the coming operation, then Yang's kidnapping during the final rounds of the Vytal Festival, their discovery at that mine before finally the attack on Amity and the fall of Beacon itself.
"The last thing I remember before I passed out on the tower was Ruby screaming and then this white light..." He paused for a moment recalling his dream and conversation with... Kate. He frowned at the memory or maybe a dream, probably, there were a hundred cases of people in comas who had experienced some weird and vivid dreams.
It was one of the brain's defence mechanisms, or so Harry had told him when he described it to him, a way for his mind to distract itself from the trauma inflicted on his body while he healed.
But it'd also been so real, and given everything he'd seen over the last four years there was still a part of him that believed it was, and if so then, why had he been given a choice between returning to this world or entering paradise? He knew there was an afterlife, Gwen had all but confirmed to him that the souls of the dearly departed passed on into different plains of existence after death.
When she'd told him, it had been meant as a comfort, a way to try and help him move on after Kate's death, that even though she was gone from the physical world her memories, her consciousness still existed elsewhere, alongside his parents.
What she hadn't mentioned, was how those verry souls could be brought back either through rituals or by beings of great power.
This had become something he and several other plumbers had witnessed first-hand after he and his team had been called in alongside at least five others to assist Ben and the rest of Team 10 during a battle with Hex. The old sorcerer had been in the process of sacrificing an entire town's population to some extradimensional entity in what had turned out to be a last-ditch effort to bring back his niece after Psycho Pink killed her and likely would have succeeded had Gwen not sensed the spike Psychic and extradimensional energy released by said ritual.
He understood that pain, the desperation, the desire to see your loved ones again, and with the chance of having it all back again at his fingertips... well, he'd be lying if he said he wouldn't be tempted had he been in Hex's place. But not only was the price he'd need to pay too much to bear, but if he did go through with it he'd never be able to look the verry people he'd done so much to bring back in the eye again afterwards.
Had that been what Kate had meant when she said the big man? Had some Celestial Sapiens been watching this the whole time and just decided to lend a hand and pull him back from the brink? He didn't know and he didn't want to now, there were more important things going on right now.
Forcing those thoughts aside he carried on with his story. "After that, I woke up in the medical ward back on earth only to find out it'd been almost a year since then, Harry filled me in on everything a little after... I, I couldn't believe it." That his friends had been left to fend for themselves, that the magister's request for aid had been denied and that they had been ordered to stand by and do nothing while that world and everyone on it may very well die at the hands of the Psycho rangers. "Magister Tennyson has been trying to get the decision overruled for months now, or even just get permission to send a drone through the portal to assess the situation, but they've stonewalled him at every turn."
"Can't say I'm surprised" Wayland replied.
Even before those lot had shown up, the plumber's operational effectiveness had been split in two with half their resources going towards the patrolling and overall law-keeping of the sectors under their control while the rest had been sent to maintain and combat aggressors against their borders. The situation hadn't been ideal, but it had been manageable despite numerous incidents where their enemies had broken through the line and later been repelled, the lines on the map had rarely ever changed so drastically or irreparably, barring a few notable incidents.
Then came the fall of Anur Transyl and everything changed, suddenly the lines on the map didn't matter anymore and everyone was a target.
'To think it looked like the Galaxy was just beginning to settle after our war with the incursions.' He sighed taking another sip of his pint 'That we might have had a chance at some form of lasting peace.' And wasn't that a relief for the bureaucrats on both sides, now they could get back to their politicking and attempts at climbing higher up the social ladder than they already were, the idea of another drawn-out conflict similar to the incursions assault on earth back in the twenty-tens now so far out of the realm of possibility in their minds.
Until it wasn't, and now years later command had found themselves in the mists of an unexpected reprieve in their most recent conflict. It made sense they'd try and drag that out for as long as possible, especially when the causes of much of their grief over the years were distracted with their newest conquest, and the only means they could return seemed to be under their control.
Fools... the lot of them.
Honestly, Command's biggest mistake was not hunting down and wiping those five out after Transyl, had they done that then he was sure the galaxy wouldn't have suffered as much as it had and that they wouldn't be risking everything on the gambol that the lot responsible wouldn't come back to finish what they'd started here. "But that still doesn't explain why you were mucking about trying to find me."
If he was hoping he might be able to pull some strings with the higher-ups and get an order passed for some drone reconnaissance planet side, or even a direct line to the magistrates so he could plead his case then he was sad to say the lad was going to be disappointed. "If you were hoping I might still have enough pull to get that drone recon you mentioned green-lit, I'm sorry to say any of that went with my command." He leaned back into his chair a long sigh slipping past his lips as he rubbed his chin in thought. "The best bit of advice I could offer now is to go to Max and have him put in another request with high command, but we both know that'll go nowhere."
Alex shook his head, leaning forward onto the table "I didn't come here looking for a favour, Captain." Alex drew his plumber's badge, setting it on the table between them, the display came to life projecting a still image of the Ship they found in Rushmore alongside the schematics Hokestar had sent them for the WFG. The old plumber suddenly found his gaze locked on the starship and alien tech; it didn't take much for him to realise just what the lad was really after.
He peered up at Alex over the holographic display "You're going AWOL aren't you?"
"We have a ship and a way to get ourselves over there." Alex listed off in a hushed tone so the other patrons wouldn't hear them "Our only problem has been finding a crew willing to sign on for a mission like this, fighters, engineers, command staff" He gestured to himself "I know enough to coordinate and run ops with teams on the ground, but not enough to co-ordinate an operation on a global scale."
"Which is why you were poking around my files looking for me." The former officer surmised tapping his finger against the table in thought "How many you got signed on so far?"
Alex paused considering how best to answer and if it was wise to reveal such crucial information, especially in a public place like this. While he didn't doubt the captain's story what he did doubt was the plumbers 'Apparently' leaving one of their most influential members to his own devices without some form of security detail watching over him, not when the secrets in his head could compromise so much for their organisation.
"We've managed to recruit twenty-six fighters so far, though we're hoping to make it around three dozen by the time our deadline rolls around." It'd be a small force all things considered, but they'd have access to more fighters once they met up with the others on Remnant, not to mention the opportunity to try and recruit a few more to their cause such as CFVY and SSSN when the time came. " As for technicians we have an engineering team of around two dozen recruited from the base at Rushmore, they're busy retrofitting the ship and loading it with surplus equipment we've... commandeered from the base." He expected a look of disapproval maybe even some harsh words for going so far, so quickly but he only nodded in response.
"What's your timeframe for all this?" Wayland inquired.
"We're hoping to have everything ready by the end of the month, that's our deadline." The longer they waited the bigger the chance there was they'd be uncovered, there was still the issue of finding a good comms officer along with science and medical teams, they'd be braving uncharted waters so having all three would be essential, not only for mission success but for their crew's survival. "But I'll admit we're still short more than a few hands, comms staff, scientist officers and medical teams most of all."
Alex sighed to himself staring down into his drink as he spoke "The mission isn't exactly a cakewalk, not to mention with people our age at the helm, even with our records how young we are makes people doubt our credibility." He looked up at the former alpha division commander, hopefully. "Which is why I was hoping you might be willing to join up." Having someone like Simon Wayland among the crew would help put people's minds at ease and reduce the chances of them making crucial errors, not to mention keeping them on the ball.
"You think having an old war dog like me on board will shut up any of the doubters?" The former Alpha Division Commander surmised tapping a finger against his glass in contemplation. He wouldn't deny the lad had a point, his name still carried a fair bit of weight and would silence anyone who took a look at the lad and his team and dismissed them as nothing more than a couple of hopefuls way over their heads.
Alex shook his head "It's not just that." The way he said that made it sound so shallow, the cap was far more than some bargaining chip to help drum up recruits. "You have more experience than almost any other plumber on earth, your judgment and situational awareness would help us more in the long run than the recruits your name would bring in ever could."
Wayland hummed along with Alex's words, lad had a point, from the sound of it the majority of his crew would be made up of a lot of fresh faces. Having a few more experienced officers around could only improve their chances, and on a more personal note, he'd been missing his time in that Armor. Don't get him wrong civilian life had its charms, but he'd never felt more of himself than when he'd been out there with his brothers and sisters in arms.
With a small nod, he brought his pint to his lips once more taking a long slow sip before setting the glass down, fixing Alex with a serious look he made his decision. "...Fine." Though just as it looked like Alex was going to speak he scowled lightly. "But we're going to need to take care of a few things first, that crew issues of yours most of all."
"My team are in the process of remedying that." Alex revealed. "We've got a list of candidates active plumbers or otherwise that we've been working our way through."
"Good start" Wayland nodded back slowly in approval of the young officer's choice. "But do you have a backup plan if those people refuse you, or worse try to turn you over to your superiors." No plan survived first contact with the enemies and while being able to adapt on the fly was good, having one or two contingencies to fall back on as well could be the difference between victory or defeat.
Alex worked his mouth a few times going over the few options he had in reserve, it wasn't as though the plumbers had the only skilled doctors in the system they could turn to for a mission like this. But he couldn't think of many that could come close to matching the level of experience or knowledge on various lifeforms throughout the universe, someone like Harry had aces too.
"Not many who could match the level of expertise as a fully trained and tested Plumber Officer, but they each have their fair share of experience in their fields so there shouldn't be any issues in that department." Alex bounced his leg anxiously. "As for the latter, me being here is a big enough risk as is not to mention the dangers we'll face once we reach remnant itself, but the situation has gotten desperate enough where even a bad plan is better than no plan at all."
Wayland hummed in resignation, he supposed you couldn't really get any better than that, you didn't always have the pick of the crop nor the promise everything would run smoothly during an operation, especially one like this. "Suppose I can't ask much more than that." The last thing you wanted was some newbie doctor losing their cool when they had someone under the knife or a cooms officer who didn't know the first thing about encrypted comm channels. "As for the issues with fighters, I can't give you much in terms of numbers, but I can supply the locations of a few 'experienced individuals' who may be able to make up for it."
"Mercenaries?" Alex questioned a look of contemplation and disapproval passing over him.
"No" Wayland shook his head, he wouldn't trust their kind with something as serious as this, their loyalty was to the coin and nothing more. However, The Psycho Rangers had made more than a few planets worth of enemies throughout their four-year reign of terror.. Planets he'd even served upon throughout his career, homes to good, honest people and a few friends he'd met while out on tour.
Friends who'd thankfully managed to escape the devastation of their home worlds as everything went to hell around them. Friends who wouldn't pass up a chance at some payback when offered. "Just some old comrades."
/
The Beowolf slammed into her full force driving her back onto the floor its jagged and uneven surface tearing through the fabric of her jacket and digging into her back, the impact causing her grip to falter and the Grimm the chance to lung forward. Amethyst eyes widened she dropped low ducking under the Beowulf's gaping maw as it struck, its jaws cutting into the stone floor where her face had once been, sending shards of stone and teeth across its surface.
Taking her chance, she forced herself up onto her knees and rammed her shoulder into its armoured chest pushing off the floor into a sprint, the force of the blow causing the Grimm to double over her a pained yowl leaving its maw, spraying spittle and black ichor across her back and into her hair. Her momentum carrying them forward she slammed the Grimm into the arena wall spiderweb cracks spreading across the surface from the point of impact.
Hair bursting aflame she followed up her initial attack, with three aura-fuelled jabs to its chest, the bone plates cracked but did not break under the force of her blows. Gnashing her teeth in frustration she decided to change tactics, pushing off the arena floor and into the air, with a furious cry the huntress in training twisted her hips to the side bringing her leg up into a flying roundhouse that struck the monstrosity across the face with the force of a missile.
The Beowulf's head whipped to the side, the left half of the bone plates surrounding its eyes shattering under the force of the blow, shards of bone gouging deep into its flesh. Its world spinning the Grimm crashed down onto the stone floor, skipping across the surface and back into the centre of the arena. If it had been one of the younger of its kind that would have been the end of its existence, yet this Grimm was stronger than its brethren, evident by the many spines running across its back and thicker bone plates that covered much of its body.
Hacking up a mixture of bile and ichor across the floor the alpha Beowolf scrambled up on all fours its remaining eye glaring spitefully at its opponent, the creatures watching on from above roared in what it could only assume to be joy at the sight of him returning to the fray.
He cared not for their praise nor the jeers they sent his opponent's way, all that mattered was finishing the human off once and for all, and unlike those outside this place, the accursed 'light' that had saved so many before her from his and his brethren' claws did not seem to be able to protect the ones his captors had brought before him and his pack.
Just like those they had torn asunder before, she was soft, weak, vulnerable.
The few wounds he'd managed to inflict upon her during their battle were beginning to take their toll, as shown by how she supported herself against the wall with one arm while clutching at the gouges his claws had left in her side, her breathing came out in hard puffs her body shaking in what looked to be near exhaustion.
The scent of fresh blood in the air mixed with the subtle fear wafting off of her into an almost intoxicating combination. Yet despite that, he could feel it, the rage, the frustration, the hatred burning within the blazing red eyes shadowed by her matted blond hair. His black tongue ran out across his lips, a low growl echoing in the back of his throat he began to stalk forward eager to end the fight.
The huntress in training scowl grew more intense as she watched the Grimm rise and begin to advance on her once more, its pack mates had been easy enough, but this thing just didn't seem to know when to quit, she gnashed her teeth together forcing her breathing to even out. Pushing herself off the wall she dropped back into a boxing stance a low hiss slipping past her lips courtesy of the sharp stabbing pain running up her side and back.
She could feel her body starting to rebel against her, the pain threatening to send her to her knees, much like the exhaustion seeping into her limbs. The combination of the two caused her vision to sway and blur to the point she thought she might pass out.
She shook her head forcing those thoughts aside, she had to end this, now, or she was going to die here.
Her fists just weren't cutting it though, if she had her gauntlets then she probably could have ended this far sooner sadly that wasn't an option at the moment, so she'd have to get creative. Eyes darting around the room she searched for anything she might be able to use to her advantage, the majority of the arena was bare there were no weapons improvised or otherwise her captures might have thought to leave for her, or traps they'd thought to include in its construction to put her at an even bigger disadvantage.
Though that might have been the point, the fuckers were getting a kick out of watching her suffer through all this, so she doubted they'd risk their fun being spoiled because she fell into some pit trap or got blown up by a land mine or something. The only other things in here were... the pillars.
Her eyes darted to the centre of the arena where the rotating spiked apparatuses lay in a circle surrounding a small stage in the middle, she'd avoided that area of the arena like the plague the second she'd laid eyes on them, especially with the number of Grimm she'd been forced to fight at the time.
The outer area gave her more mobility at the cost of leaving her open to attacks from multiple opponents at once, it's not like it wasn't anything she hadn't dealt with before... except it wasn't. In a normal situation, she could have handled all these guys without so much as breaking a sweat, but this wasn't a normal situation, she was unarmed and her aura was on the frits courtesy of the collar wrapped around her neck and despite taking out the pack barring their leader, she'd suffered for it along the way and was starting to slow down.
The pillars while still just as dangerous to her, were the only weapon she had right now. If she stayed out here she'd just get overwhelmed and die tired, while if she braved the mini blenders they'd set up she might at least have a chance. "Come on you ugly fuck!" She bellowed out her hair lighting aflame once more as she broke off into a sprint towards the pillars, the alpha released a defining howl in reply, racing after her on all fours.
It hurt her pride a little to turn tail and run even if it was the smart thing, but she hadn't made it this far by relying on everything but her head. So, she pushed forward with what little strength she had left. Despite this, she was no speedster not like her little sister and little by little the Beowolf began to gain ground behind her.
Her muscles screamed in protest begging for her to stop, begging for the chance for rest, a chance she couldn't give them even as her legs began to feel numb and keeping pace ahead of the Grimm became more difficult by the second. Even as she felt a swipe of the Grimm's claws rip through her golden locks leaving a trail of blazing embers flowing in the air behind her, the pillars mere meters away from them.
She risked a glance back towards the Grimm, it turned out to be the right call, as well as the Beowolf was quite literally on her heels its body brought low and already in the midst of pouncing towards her.
It was now or never.
Her face set in stone she twisted on her heels dropping down, skidding back across the course dirt towards the jagged surface of the pillars. Her left arm shot forward her forearm catching the extended paw of the Beowolf as it struck out towards her. She felt her bones rattle, threatening to snap under the force of the blow.
She pushed past the pain, her right-hand shooting forward, seizing the Grimm by the neck, she glared into the eyes of the monster as they fell into a roll. As soon as her back hit the dirt she tucked her legs in and planted the bottom of her feet against the Grimm's armoured chest and pushed off using the Grimm's own momentum to launch it back towards the pillars.
Its body slammed into the makeshift spike trap, the stonework crumbling under the impact caking the centre of the arena in a thick cloud of dust.
The young huntress didn't waste time, scrambling to her feet eyes locked on the slowly dissipating cloud of dust she brought her fists to bear, the makeshift stands above had gone quiet, her audience waiting, some in anticipation others with bated breath for either the conclusion or continuation of their bout. As the dust settled those hoping for the latter however would quickly find themselves disappointed by the sight of the Beowolf Alpha, its body lay motionless in the centre of the arena perforated by the jagged lumps of scrap metal and rebar poles that had lined the pillar, a thick black cloud already beginning to form over its corps.
She stumbled back from the decaying Grimm, a smile beginning to stretch across her lips as a sense of relief washed over her at the sight of its dissipating form.
Then came the boo's, the taunts and the objects thrown her way, puffing out a breath she tilted her head up towards the stands and glared right back up at them defiantly. Stepping forward on shaky legs she bellowed out one last defiant roar back at them, before falling to her knees panting breathlessly.
The lights hovering over-head beginning to fade, the stone floor of the arena dissolved into a blackened landscape dotted with patches of black smoke that swirled and arched in the air around her, the booing, the insults and various objects thrown her way by the monsters watching over her fight, had faded into silence.
She glanced around the void in confusion then realization struck her 'I'm dreaming' Yang thought to herself, then scowled bitterly 'Not a dream, a nightmare' Pushing herself back onto her feet her injuries began to shift and change. Blood faded into smoke, her bruises receding into her skin, while her wounds knitted themselves back together, and her tattered bloodstained clothes were replaced by the tank top and shorts she'd worn for bed that night.
"It's just a dream." She told herself, her left arm coming up to rub at the faint burn scars running across her neck, the weight of the collar and the feel of the jagged metal casing digging into her skin still fresh in her mind "It's not real" Yang lamented to herself as she looked up at the endless black expanse around her.
She didn't know what it was or how it came to be, only that a few weeks before she and the others left for Mistral, after another night of reliving her fight in the Psycho Rangers Arena, she hadn't woken up back in her room drenched in a cold sweat like usual. Instead, she found herself here in what she'd started calling her mind place.
When she first found herself here, she didn't know what to think her emotions had been all over the place her mind dancing between the shock at no longer having to defend herself against an Alpha Ursa in the process of trying to rip her guts out and the confusion caused by the sudden change in her surroundings.
She wasn't sure how long she'd sat there, seconds, minutes, hours? She couldn't be sure, but eventually, she finally managed to pull herself together and try to think things over, which was another shock in itself. When she was in one of her nightmares her mind was... locked in, or something like that. Look the point she was trying to make was that during her nightmares she honestly believed everything around her was the real deal, that she was back in that pit fighting for her life.
But while she was here she was fully aware of everything, that she was asleep, that she hadn't been in a life-or-death situation only a few minutes earlier and that everything around her wasn't real. You'd think knowing that might give her some control over this place, it was her head after all and you'd be right, at least partially.
Sighing Yang spread her arms out and let herself fall back, the smoke behind her immediately began to twist and turn in the air forming a bright yellow bean bag chair that she flopped into unceremoniously and wriggled herself deeper into its embrace.
Sadly this was about the best she could do at the moment, don't get her wrong she'd tried to do more, even change her surroundings so once she eventually came to her senses she'd find herself somewhere other than the endless void of darkness and misery -That she was starting to think might be a reflection of her failing mental state- she was currently occupying.
That as it turned out, had been a big mistake.
Most nights she found herself trapped in the arena re-living the fights until she either pulled out a win like tonight or was torn limb from limb by the Grimm. But recently she'd started finding herself back at her family home on Patch or at Beacon, where she'd been forced to wander the endless halls shifting between her current age and her eight-year-old self as she overheard her family and friends whisper about her through the darkness.
How her dad blamed her for her mother leaving.
How Summer lamented her existence and how she'd been forced to endure the humiliation of raising another woman's child.
How her sister and friends were grateful they left her behind, that she would have only slowed them down.
How Blake was glad to have been rid of the burden that was being a partner to Yang Xiao Long.
How Koan was disgusted at himself for having ever loved such a pathetic girl who needed everyone else to pick up the pieces and put her back together.
She knew it wasn't real, that her family would have never said those things to her, that they were bald-faced lies her mind had created due to her own mounting stress. The nurse who came around the house to check in on her and Ruby during the first few weeks after Beacon had said the very same thing, that stuff like this was a 'normal side effect of trauma', especially after what she and her friends had been through and that 'dealing with it would get easier over time'.
She'd even left a few pamphlets about dealing with PTSD, how to deal with stress and the effects trauma could have on your dreams. You know, the usual medical mumbo jumbo that she'd, -if reluctantly- given a once over after some concerned urging from her dad and Koan.
They talked about accepting what happened and not letting it drag her down or try to push people away because she thought less of herself after her injury.
Yes, she'd accepted what happened to her even if it took a little prodding from her loved ones to snap her out of that funk she'd found herself in over the last year, the fact she'd strapped on that prosthetic and left home chasing her sister halfway across Anima was proof enough of that. And she'd never pushed anyone away, some of them had just been taken from her, while others... others had decided she wasn't worth sticking around for.
It wasn't her fault other people had hurt her, even if her subconscious kept trying to force the idea down her throat. If they didn't think she was worth the time, fine good riddance then, they probably weren't even worth being friends with from the beginning and she'd been too much of a ditz at the time to be able to see it.
"Well...You never were the perceptive type~" An all too familiar voice whispered in her ear.
Yang let out a startled gasp, leaping up onto her feet she spun on her heels and threw a haymaker towards where she thought the voice came from, but found herself hitting nothing but air.
"Aww, too slow~" The voice mocked her one more "Just like with everything else~"
'Yeah, real funny' Yang gnashed her teeth together in frustration, then closed her eyes once more she took a long deep breath through her nose and out her mouth "It's all in your head." She said once more, reciting the same thing she always did whenever 'She' decided to show up. "She's dead, Alex killed her, she's not here." There was never a body just her voice, mocking her from the darkness, digging up all her doubts, her fears and throwing them back in her face.
Yang's brow crinkled down, she did her best to block her out, to ignore all the little taunts and barbs she sent her way, yet despite how dangerous it would have been she almost wished she was here in person, at least that way she'd have a convenient outlet for all her recent frustrations.
Before long a tense silence fell over the void, the voice of her most prominent tormentor both in reality and in her mind having faded into nothingness. Satisfied Violate eyes blinked open their owner glancing around to take in their surroundings "Anything else to say!" Yang called out to the darkness, as she expected there was no reply, humming in satisfaction she turned back to her beanbag, intent on waiting out the rest of this-
There was a flicker of movement in the corner of her eye, followed swiftly by a fist striking her across the face. The force of the blow knocked the blond off her feet and sent her crashing down onto the hard ground below.
"I have plenty left to say" Psycho Yellow growled, not giving the girl beneath her a chance to recover she pulled her leg back and delivered a heavy kick to Yang's side, the impact knocking the air out of her lungs and forcing the blond brawler onto her back. Yang scrambled for purchase, sweeping one leg out towards the threat as she tried to get back on her feet, her efforts earned her an armoured boot to the face, sending her back onto the floor her world in a daze.
Psycho Yellow descended on her, planting her knee on Yang's chest and lashed out with her hand seizing the blond by the throat, Yang grasped desperately at the Psycho Ranger's hand in an effort to free herself, Psycho Yellow scoffed and dragged Yang up into a sitting position so their faces were level.
Wide violate eyes stared up into that soulless black visor yellow arc energy sparking to life at their centre. "N-no" Yang choked out releasing the Psycho ranger's wrist she delivered an aura field punch to the Psycho ranger's chest. To her growing horror, Psycho Yellow remained unfazed even as she did it again, and again, her legs coming up behind her to strike at the monster's back "Y-yo-ur, not.. r-r-ugh!." Yang choked out as the monsters suddenly tightened her grip to a near-bone-crushing degree.
Yellow tilted her head to the side and hummed, pleased by the look of terror and disbelief shining in those violate eyes, "You've gotten stronger." she noted sounding rather pleased by the news. "I'm almost tempted to get this over with right here and now." She shook the girl for emphasis, who was beginning to turn an interesting shade of blue. "It would certainly save me some time, but sadly." Yellow released her hold allowing Yang to suck in a much-needed breath as she flopped back onto the ground "Still not strong enough." She shrugged wiping her hand off on her thigh "Not yet at least, but don't worry."
Yang coughed lightly, darkness creeping in at the edges of her vision her head lolled towards the Psycho ranger "You're not... Re-HNGH!" Psycho Yellow thrust her hand down spearing her hand into Yang's chest and through her heart, burning hot pain unlike any other spread through her body. Yang hacked, the taste of blood filling her mouth, her limbs flopping to the ground beside her uselessly, she gasped desperately, it was getting harder to breathe by the second.
'Am... Am I dying?' she asked herself.
Psycho Yellow leaned down staring into Yang's eyes as she withdrew her bloodstained hand from her chest "You and I will see each other again soon enough."
/
Yang gasped arching off the bed as her hand flew to her chest, at that moment it felt as though hundreds of shards of ice had suddenly formed under her skin, despite the chill she couldn't stop sweating from every poor in her body, she trembled, her heart pounding in her ears, the pain in her chest growing more prominent by the second.
Tearing the covers off she stumbled up to her feet catching herself on the nightstand when she almost fell her prosthetic tumbling off the side and onto the floor with a loud thud, she ignored it staggering across the carpeted floor of their room and into the bathroom across the other side. Flicking on the light Yang moved towards the mirror pulling up the hem of her tank top and exposing her bare chest to the mirror.
...Nothing, there was nothing there.
No gaping wound, no burned flesh nor an open void where the Psycho ranger's hand had descended through her chest and into her heart. Yet as she brought her hand to the point of impact just below her left breast, she couldn't help but feel a chill shoot up her spine, she felt faint, gripping the sink she nearly doubled over her strength leaving her in an instant.
The image of Psycho Yellow knelt atop her body; hand buried almost elbow deep into her chest flashed to the forefront of her mind.
She felt numb, bile rising in her throat, pushing off the sink and towards the porcelain throne, landing on her knees she barely had enough time to lift the seat before emptying the remnants of last night's reunion dinner into the toilet bowl.
Between the sounds of her retching and streams of vomit hitting the bowl, she heard a voice call out to her in concern. Goosebumps shot up her shoulders and neck as she felt a pair of hands grip her hair, drawing it back past her shoulders and out of the line of fire. Lifting her head out of the bowl she looked back over her shoulder. "Koan" She whimpered a feeling of relief filling her at the sight of the shapeshifter knelt beside her before she could speak any further she felt her stomach clench and her throat lock up, her face returning to the toilet a moment later.
"It's okay, I'm here Yang, I'm here" He whispered back to her rubbing soothing circles across his girlfriend's back with one hand, while her long main of blond hair held up and out of the line of fire in his other. 'Could it be something she ate?' He wondered to himself.
No, he'd eaten the curry the same as the others and he felt just fine and he was certain neither Yang nor anyone else had anything close to alcohol the night before, even if he might have felt like he needed it after their talk with Ozpin.
He doubted anyone could blame them for being angry or upset with the old wizard's deception, even more so when the old Wizard said they could still walk away and suffer no fallout from abstaining from the conflict. Even if Oscar had nothing to do with his anger he'd admit to enjoying the look of panic that flashed over the former headmaster's features when he'd interrupt his little speech revealing that the Psycho ranger had made an attempt on Yang's life back on patch.
The Psycho rangers wouldn't let any of them walk away from this nor did he think that Salem woman would for that matter, not that he or any of the others were going anywhere at this point, not only were they already in too deep, but they'd sacrificed too much just to pack it all in and go home now. How were any of them even supposed to move on with life if they did, no, they were all seeing this thing through to the end.
It wasn't long until Yang's stomach had nothing else to give, hacking up a final wad of phlegm and bile she spat it into the bowl with the rest of that mess before slumping against the toilet panting in exhaustion. "Are you okay?" Koan asked her in a soft voice.
Yang nodded her head slowly grimacing at the mess she'd left inside the toilet bowl, it was almost enough to cause a repeat of earlier, thankfully she could say with confidence her stomach was completely empty. "I think I'm good." She said a shudder passing through her body, just then she felt a warm towel being wrapped around her shoulders, the heated fabric causing Yang to let out a low hum as the warmth spread across her back and shoulders chasing away the chill of the late-night air.
Tugging the corners of the towel closed around herself she whispered "Thanks" Wiping her face off on one of the corners of the towel she looked back towards her boyfriend "I-I'm sorry if I woke you."
"Don't apologise." Koan knelt down beside her brushing aside a few stray strands of blonde hair stuck to her face. "Was it those dreams again?" he asked.
Yang looked away, her chest growing tight.
She'd tried to hide it the best she could, especially while they'd been bunking together on that ship. She didn't want to distract them from their journey or make it seem like she wasn't ready for the trip. But it had only been a matter of team until the other caught on that something was wrong, the day before they docked in Mistral she'd woken up in the middle of the night screaming after another Nightmare.
Her cries had roused not only her bunk mates but half of the crew as well, many of whom had rushed to their stations fearing they were under attack by some form of aquatic Grimm. Only for them to find out soon after it had been a false alarm, and the ruckus had been the cause of one of their passengers. There was no real way of hiding it after that, so she told them, about her nightmares, how they'd been happening since the fall of Beacon, how it was no big deal and she'd been handling it for almost a year now.
Neither of them liked how she'd kept it from them for so long, or how dismissive she'd been about the whole thing at the time.
She wasn't blind to the danger a sudden random spike of negativity could be an issue out in the wilds, but it wasn't like she could have just flicked a switch and turned it off and on whenever she wanted. It was like the nurse said. like all those pamphlets and self-help books went on and on about, they were just nightmares caused by all the shit she'd been through that day.
That's what she told herself then, but now... now she wasn't so sure.
"Yang" A hand slid up to cup her cheek tearing her from her thoughts and back to reality "Talk to me, please" Koan whispered to her, worry and concern dancing in his eyes.
Yang stared back at him in silence, her eyes moving between him and the door to the bathroom over his shoulder, a small part of her wanted to just get up go back to bed and just forget about all this, while another knew that was the worst thing she could do right now. Koan was just trying to be there for her, like he always had from the beginning, and she could imagine what she was going through was hitting a little close to home on his end.
Her eyes drifted down to the Nemetrix, the edges of the dark red metalwork fused into his verry flesh, never to be removed.
There was no doubt in her mind he knew exactly what she was going through, that he had more than likely experienced the same thing she was going through right now and now here she was trying to push him away when all she was trying to do was help. '...What's wrong with me?' Yang thought bitterly, then tilted her head up towards Koan "Yeah, it was... it was another dream." Pushing herself up onto her knees she shifted back towards the sink and tugged at his shirt, Koan dropped down onto the floor beside her.
Shuffling closer to him she rested her head on his shoulder, his arm slinking around her waist and pulling her close "I... I don't know what's happening" Yang whispered a tremor passing through her voice as she spoke. "Ever since we left Patch the dream stopped happening as often as before, I thought I was finally starting to get over it, but..." Yang trailed off the memory of Psycho Yellow's attack flashing to the forefront of her mind. " Back on the boat, and tonight... they were so much worse, so much more intense than before." She did everything they said you should do to help cope, keeping active, switching up her routine, and practising all those calming breathing exercises.
Heck, she'd even started keeping a journal on her scroll that she'd vent to every now and then, but nothing seemed to be working. Instead of things getting easier things only seemed to be getting worse, even more so after they'd run into Raven, she'd gone in there with a clear head and plan in mind on how to get them to Mistral, but as soon as she laid eyes on her Mom and heard her spouting all that obnoxious shit about how uncle Qrow was a liar and Ruby was a fool, she'd lost it and devolved into some whiny brat throwing a temper tantrum, so much so that Lilly had to step in to salvage the situation.
No wonder her friends had left her behind back in Vale, she could already imagine the amount of shit her outbursts would have brought down on them out on the road to Mistral "What's wrong with me?" Yang muttered; she'd be the first to admit her temper had always been one of her more troublesome qualities but never to the extent she started snapping at every little slight aimed her way.
"There's nothing wrong with you" Koan assured her, he hated seeing her like this hating hearing her beat herself down even further than she already was. Despite how much she tried to deny it or prove it hadn't affected her as much as it did, Yang had gone through more trauma over the course of a week than most experienced plumbers would have seen throughout their entire careers.
You could be the toughest, meanest, most brutal fighter out there but that didn't mean you could just walk away from something like that without it affecting you, without it changing you. "Yang, what you're going through right now, it's... it's natural." He'd seen it a hundred times over in both his colleges and closest friends back on earth.
"Natural?" Yang looked up at him in disbelief. "How is any of this natural?" She demanded a pained look flashing across her features.
"Because you went through something terrible, something so traumatic that it left its mark on you." Koan went on his brow knitting down into a thin line as he tried to think of how best to explain everything in a way she could understand. "I wish I could say it's all going to be okay, that it'll go away on its own and you can just forget about it in a year, but it won't." Koan squeezed her waste in what he hoped would be a comforting gesture " That doesn't mean you're broken or any less of a person because of it, but you have to stop trying to ignore it ever happened and start to face it head-on, it's the only way things will ever start to get better."
The blond brawler scowled turning away to glare up at the ceiling above "You say that like it's supposed to be easy."
Why did this have to happen to her? A year ago, she'd been so pumped after being accepted into Beacon alongside her little sister. But now her dream school was nothing but a pile of rubble, her friends were dead, her team had broken apart at the seams and scattered across the world to be hunted by a bunch of murderous Psychopaths, oh and to top it all off they were now involved in a war against probably the greatest evil the world had ever known.
"It's not but believe me it could be worse." Koan tried to assure her.
"How!?" She snapped slamming her fist down onto the bathroom. She couldn't sleep because of the nightmares, she was tired all the time because she couldn't sleep, and she was constantly getting upset and going off the rails at people because she was so tired and irritable all the freaking time.
Clenching her eyes shut she looked away a feeling of shame welling up inside her. "How could it get any worse?"
Koan smiled softly, staring down at the floor his eyes empty, lifeless things. "You could have ended up like me."
Yang flinched back from the sheer coldness of his words, the fiery wave of frustration and self-loathing she'd been riding only a moment ago fizzling out in an instant, her gaze snapped back to her boyfriend who now looked as though he'd aged fifty years in the last few seconds "...What?" She whispered.
Koan let out a long sigh, he didn't like talking about this with people, he didn't like how it made them look at him afterwards. "Do you remember what I told you back at the dance, about what happened to me, what Albedo, Kyber and Psychobos did to me, how I... How I lost myself because of them?"
"Y-Yeah." Yang hesitated, the conversation in question had caused her more than its fair share of worry and anger, especially when she finally lay eyes on one of Koan's tormentors back at the Plumber Base. "But you said you pulled yourself back... that you got better."
"Yeah, I did, but I also didn't." Koan added scratching at the back of his head as he considered his next words " My mind... it compartmentalized what happened to me and split up my memories of what happened " To put it simply the good was separated from the bad and the bad was separated from the traumatizing and shoved off to different corners of his head, his brain had been trying to protect him but in the end it only ended up creating something. "It's one of the reasons I don't remember my time there all too clearly, my brain physically won't let me because it could send me into a relapse, and he could come out."
"He?" Yang found herself asking, Koan didn't answer carrying on almost as if he didn't even hear her.
"You don't go through what I did and come out the other side without being changed." There was a distant look in his eye, a calmness so unlike the blond she'd grown to know that sent a chill down her spine "That attack dog they tried to make me into, a part of that is still here." He tapped the side of his head for emphasis "He's buried himself deep down under all that anger, all the fear, all that pain, I went through with them." Koan reached up and rubbed at his eyes.
"Koan" Yang raised her voice the volume snapping her boyfriend back to reality, with his attention now focused solely on her she then asked, "Who is he?"
The shapeshifter sighed, both in frustration and what looked to be a hint of embarrassment "He calls himself DJ, or Demon Jester".
Yang stared at him blankly for what had to be a few good moments, before a slender golden brow slowly rose in disbelief "...Seriously?".
Koan waved his hand back at the expression the blond sent his way "I know, I know it's the most cringy, edge lord name a guy could give himself but that's what he insists upon." Koan dragged a hand down his face tiredly, he knew it sounded like a bad joke, but he couldn't be any more serious, DJ was an entity made up of his worst impulses, with all of his abilities at his fingertips and none of the restraint he exercised in battle.
A look of worry flashed across Yang's features "Wait he talks to you?" she asked "Is he doing it now?"
Koan shook his head "He's not some voice in my head if that's what you're worried about." Koan was quick to measure her "From what the doctors back on earth told me, he's some kind of split personality that only comes out when something triggers one of those memories, or when I'm going through a high-stress life-or-death situation that pushes me over the edge." The memory of the guards outside his cell back at the plumber base when the word came in that Kyber had been found followed swiftly by the image of Yang being struck in the chest by a blast from Psycho Red and then of her arm being severed by Adam Taurus forced themselves to the forefront of his mind. "It's like something flicks a switch inside my head and I get pushed out of the driver's seat and he takes over."
Yang nodded along slowly with Koan's words, overall, he seemed pretty calm about the whole thing and Alex had never mentioned anything about it to her or her team back at Beacon, so it couldn't be that bad, still. "Do we need to worry about him if he pops up?" From how Koan described him she didn't know what this other side of him might do if he came out in the heat of a fight. Would he recognise their friends, or even her? And if not then how would he react in the heat of the moment? Would he see them as allies to fight beside or would her boyfriend suddenly turn on them in the middle of a fight because that guy had decided to force his way into control?
Almost immediately Koan recognised that look in her eye, the concern and the fear he'd seen time and time again when another person finally learned of his other half, but there was something different about how it appeared in Yang. That fear, that concern in her eyes wasn't just for herself or her friends, but for him, her next words only further hammer that point home "I don't want to hurt you if something goes wrong."
Koan smiled down at her reassuringly "Don't worry, he can't come out on his own and even if he does he's still a part of me, he knows who his friends are, even if he might not see them the same way I do." It was a small mercy but one he wasn't about to question in any regard.
Madness did as madness does, he was just thankful his mental tag-along was just capable of picking his targets when it came to a fight.
Scratching at his cheek Koan tried to steer the conversation back on track, he wasn't trying to make this just about him. "Look, the point I'm trying to make is that this happening to you doesn't mean you're broken or that it's the end of everything for you." Was it going to suck in the short term, of course, those dreams weren't going to go away overnight but if she kept working at it as she'd been over the last year, then they'd become less of an impact on her life as time went on " Trust me when I say it'll get easier as time goes by, you just can't let it drag you down."
Yang fidgeted in place uncomfortably, looking off to the side she muttered. "Why do I get the feeling things won't be as cut and dry as you make them out to be?"
"These kinds of things never are, but nothing will change if you don't try." His and Yang's stories were just two examples out of an endless sea of pain and trauma, however, the most important thing to remember is that you didn't have to go through it alone, speaking of which. "You know we're going to have to tell the others about this, right?."
Yang sighed "I know." It'd be a headache and a half having to explain what was happening to her to the others. Don't get her wrong she'd appreciate any concern sent her way, but the last thing she wanted was for her friends to start thinking she was made of glass or that they needed to start walking on eggshells around her. "Just gimme until the end of the week and I'll tell them." She didn't want to dump her problems on top of the existing pile they were all dealing with right now. "They don't need me dumping all my crap on top of everything else, okay."
"Fair enough" Koan relented adjusting his hold around Yang's waist to pull her closer to his side, the blond brawler mimicking his actions by shifting his head down to rest on his chest while curling one of her legs around his own. A comfortable silence fell over the two of them as they lay there together, Yang couldn't remember the last time they'd been able to do this, to just sit and enjoy one another company, especially back home on patch.
Between the rut, she'd found herself in and her dad watching the two of them like a hawk whenever they were around one another, there hadn't been a lot of room for intimate moments between them. A fact that was only emphasised after Lilly finally got in contact with them and the majority of their time and attention had been dedicated to training and prep for the journey to Mistral, something she was beginning to regret now.
"...We never did get to go on that date." She whispered forlornly.
"Hmm?" Koan hummed shifting his head down slightly to regard her.
Yang paused in consideration before nodding to herself. "I was just wondering." She carried bringing her arm up she began stroking her hand across his abdomen feeling the defined muscle hidden beneath his night shirt" We've got some free time tomorrow and I've never been to Mistral." She looked up at him a coy smile stretching across her features "Don't suppose you'd like to take a walk with me through the city tomorrow, see the sights, grab some food and maybe after, we can see where the day takes us?"
Koan hummed in what sounded like approval and why wouldn't he?
After all the hell they'd been through to get where they were now, battling raging storms and aquatic Grimm on the high seas, making deals with obnoxious Bandits and their arrogant leaders, being inducted into a secret organisation...Honestly, having a day that he and Yang could just spend together and relax like the normal teenagers they weren't, sounded like heaven to him.
"I'd love to."
A/N: That's another chapter out of the way dear readers, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Feel free to leave a review, fav or follow if you feel up to it, any constructive criticism you have only helps to improve the quality of my stories.