Feeling her eyelids grow heavy as the evening sky blanketed the ballroom, Yang crashed onto her hastily laid out sleeping mat to take a moment to breathe. Beside her, Ruby was lying on her stomach, scribbling notes into a book of some kind. She playfully kicked her legs back and forth behind her, softly humming a tune. Yang noted the pink roses printed onto her white pants, and the eye mask hugging her head of red-streaked hair. These features did little to help her childlike appearance. Having seen her in action, Yang could scarcely believe the cute and innocent soul before her was the same girl who wielded Crescent Rose like a pro.

What was more, Ruby always seemed so positive about things. Even as they were mere hours away from one of the most important tests of either of their lives, she was somehow maintaining an air of cheerfulness. If nothing else, Yang was hopeful that Ruby’s latent battle prowess hidden beneath all of her outward cuteness would be enough to handle whatever came her way. And if not, she had family at her side to back her up, whether she knew it or not.

“So,” Yang started hesitantly, “who is that Roman Torchwick guy on the news? Do you know him or something?”

Ruby paused, her pencil poised to create the next letter in the message she was writing down.

“Yeah, but how did you know that?”

Turning toward Ruby on the soft pillow at the edge of her mat, Yang shrugged. “You seemed a little...affected by that news report about him back on the ship.”

“Oh.” Ruby sighed, kicking her legs back and forth again. She hugged a pillow in the shape of a dog’s face close to her chest. Its tongue stuck out in a playful manner, matching Ruby’s own cuteness. “Actually, he’s the same guy I saw the night I stopped that dust shop robbery. It kinda worries me that he’s still out there.”

Yang frowned up at the ceiling, then decided Ruby might mistake her expression as confirmation of the fears she just shared, so she put on a smile instead. “Well, I’m sure he’ll be caught soon enough.”

“I hope so.” Ruby looked down and continued to write. “By the way, Yang, I wanted to ask you...why’d you step in earlier? During that whole thing with Weiss?”

Yang’s heart skipped a beat as she scrambled for an answer that seemed plausible enough. Then she mentally slapped herself for not thinking of the obvious best response which, while not the entire truth, wasn’t exactly a lie.

“I just don’t like bullies. I can’t stand by and watch someone carelessly hurt or put down others.”

Ruby nodded and stole a glance at Yang. A smile crept across her lips. “Thanks, Yang.”

Silence hung between the sisters as Ruby busied herself with her task. Finally, Yang couldn’t take the curiosity anymore.

“What’s that?” she finally drummed up the nerve to ask, her eyes cutting sideways to observe the pages of Ruby’s book.

Ruby lifted her pencil from the page. “A letter to the gang back at Signal. I promised to tell them all about Beacon and how things are going.”

“That’s nice of you.” Yang laid sideways, her head propped up against an open palm, allowing a direct view of Ruby.

“It’s better than just sitting around. Other than you, I don’t really know anyone here.”

“Look,” Yang said in what she hoped was a supportive tone, “it’s only been one day. I wouldn’t get too down about it.”

Ruby nodded. “I’ll try.” She was about to write another word, but paused, her pencil hovering just out of reach of the page. She turned to her sister again, lips folded into a nervous crease. “Hey. I know we haven’t really gotten to know each other yet, but thanks, Yang. You’re a pretty great friend.”

Yang sighed. Now was as good a time as any, even though she wanted more than anything to keep living in the lie. However, that would make her no better than Raven or Ozpin.

“Actually, about that, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

Air lodged in Yang’s throat as Ruby raised an eyebrow, trusting and innocent as ever, waiting for her to speak.

This was hell.

Yang couldn’t bear to be the reason for her sister’s pain, and yet she knew it was inevitable.

“Ruby, I’m your-”

A shuffling sound from the far end of the room grabbed the girls’ attention, causing Ruby’s eyes to widen in recognition of a shadowed figure holding a book. Peering through the dim candlelight, Yang made out the body of the girl in black and white who had walked away from Ruby in the courtyard. Again, anger simmered within her, but it was squelched by Ruby’s excited gasp.

“That girl…” Ruby whispered, eyes fixed on the mysterious student.

Deflated by this interruption, Yang postponed her confession. She glanced sideways at Ruby. “You know her?”

“Not really. She saw what happened this morning, but left before I could say anything.”

Here was Ruby’s chance. She spent so much time worrying about making friends instead of actively making some. Yang didn’t particularly care for whoever this rude person was, but the look on Ruby’s face spoke for itself. She was interested in speaking with the girl, but was too shy to initiate.

That’s where Yang came in.

“Well, now’s your chance!” She sprang to her feet, reached out, and yanked an unprepared Ruby up from the floor.

“Wait!” she stuttered. “What are you doing?!”

Having none of her sister’s reserved attitude, Yang led Ruby over to speak with the black-haired girl. Ruby continued bickering all the way over to the wall, her pleas disregarded.

Catlike eyes accented with a touch of purple eyeshadow observed Yang and Ruby over the rim of the girl’s book as she lowered it, presumably to find the source of the sounds carrying across the room. She wore a slate gray pajama blouse with white trim over a purple undershirt. Her book’s binding was a matching dark gray. Finally, the look was completed by a little black bow atop her head. Her appearance should have screamed depressing and reclusive, but for some reason, Yang felt there was more to her. Something hidden beneath the surface.

The determined blonde wasted no time making introductions. Hopefully, with her help, Ruby could make some connections at Beacon. And if Yang was going to have to put herself in the spotlight a bit to help her sister out, then she would suck it up for the time being.

“I believe you two may know each other?” she prefaced, watching the girl’s eyes flit from her to Ruby. The latter faced away from Yang, arms crossed in silent defiance.

“Aren’t you that girl that exploded?” the bookworm asked, her voice laced with an undertone of something between detached recognition and judgment. Ruby turned to make eye contact and flushed with embarrassment.

Yang groaned inwardly at the awkward opening to their conversation.

Seems like this is gonna be a rough one.

She helped Ruby along with a few words here and there, and eventually the discussion went from forced and uncomfortable to positive. All the better for the stranger, too. Yang had half a mind to punch her for blatantly continuing to read while Ruby tried to be friendly toward her. Any longer, and Yang would have acted on that impulse. Luckily for the girl with the book, she never made it that far. Instead, Ruby found the magic words that finally broke the ice.

“What’s it about?”

The girl, who they now knew as Blake, peeled her eyes away from the pages of her novel and looked up at Ruby. “Huh?”

“Your book. Does it have a name?”

Blake’s face perked up ever so slightly, and she willingly explained. “Well, it’s about a man with two souls. Each fighting for control over his body.”

Yang glanced down at a page of the book and read the text printed across its header. “The Man with Two Souls” was displayed prominently in print that she barely managed to decipher upside down. Those words brought a very familiar individual to mind. One who they’d only hours earlier been standing a few feet away from, listening to him give a speech he’d likely given to dozens of classes just like theirs. Classes full of students who went on to become unsuspecting pawns.

“Oh yeah,” Yang added, trying her best to sound interested in the subject, for Ruby’s sake. “That’s...real lovely.”

“I love books,” Ruby said, smiling down at Blake. “My dad used to read to me every night before bed. Stories of heroes and monsters. They’re one of the reasons I wanna be a Huntress.”

“Why is that?” Blake asked, sounding almost amused. “Hoping you’ll live happily ever after?”

“I’m hoping we all will!” Ruby piped up. “As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books. Someone who fought for what was right, and who protected people who couldn’t protect themselves.”

Blake looked more hopeful than either of the sisters had seen up until now, as if simply hearing Ruby’s words lit a fire in her. Yang could relate. Watching Ruby echo similar sentiments to her own was strangely empowering. All this time, she’d wrestled with whether or not her motivation for becoming a Huntress was a good one. After all, it wasn’t so much a firm plan as it was an abstract idea. Or so she thought until now. Ruby had an overwhelming sense of goodness about her that outshone all else. Despite logic and past experiences that might suggest otherwise, Yang felt she and her sister’s dreams were within reach. Not childhood fantasies, but achievable goals.

“That’s very ambitious for a child,” Blake countered, although her face implied she, too, was affected by Ruby’s conviction. She frowned down at the floor. “Unfortunately, the real world isn’t the same as a fairy tale.”

Faced with the counterargument Yang had suspected was coming, she couldn’t wait to see how her sister would react. Surely she wasn’t so naive as to think that a little hope would undo years of strife, not to mention the ever-present Grimm attacks that plagued humanity. She may have been innocent, but even she knew the threat the Grimm posed, or else she wouldn’t be participating in the Beacon Academy initiation to become a Huntress.

Ruby’s response was as simple and pure as everything else about her. The smile she gave Blake was like a bright light in the darkness. Yang felt all of the lingering doubt in her melt away as Ruby spoke.

“Well, that’s why we’re here,” she said matter-of-factly. “To make it better.”

Yang nodded. “Nicely said, Ruby.”

Blake looked from Ruby to Yang with a smile, her focus successfully snatched away from her book, if only for the moment. “Well, Ruby, Yang, it’s a pleasure to-”

Weiss stormed onto the scene before Blake could get another word out.

“What in the world is going on over here?!” she demanded to know, stalking over in a huff. Her hair was loosely draped down her back, instead of styled in its usual side-ponytail. “Don’t you realize some of us are trying to sleep?!”

Before anyone could respond, her eyes darted to Yang. Weiss’s eyebrows rose in surprise as their gazes met, and the realization of who she had stumbled upon hit her.

“Oh, not you again!” both girls shouted, glaring at each other from opposite sides of a frantic Ruby.

Ruby shushed Yang and Weiss, holding out both hands in a useless attempt at de-escalation. “Guys, she’s right. People are trying to sleep!”

Weiss placed her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes. Yang wanted to knock that holier-than-thou frown off of her face. “Oh, now you’re on my side!” Weiss spat.

“I was always on your side!”

“Yeah,” Yang added, “what’s your problem with my si-uh, my friend? She’s only trying to be nice!”

“She’s a hazard to my health!” Weiss shouted back, flailing both arms at her sides like a spoiled brat.

Goodness, was this Weiss girl a piece of work. Yang had made up her mind to deck her, only to realize she couldn’t see so much as a foot in front of her. She teetered from side to side, unfortunate enough to have been halfway through her first step toward Weiss when the room went dark. Seconds later, it registered that Blake must’ve grown tired of their bickering, given up trying to read entirely, and put out the candles. She didn’t really blame her. In all of the commotion, Yang had allowed herself to become just as unreasonably loud and confrontational as Weiss. Worse still, she almost spilled her secret in front of everyone.

Ruby fumbled around in a panic until she found Yang’s arm, which she clung to with a death grip. The sisters tottered along through the darkness back to their sleeping mats, whispering a soft apology and a goodnight to Blake as they went. Weiss left muttering something unintelligible, her fury blatantly obvious even without facial cues. Yang took solace in knowing that Blake’s last act had been to irritate Weiss further. That would have to do in place of caving her snooty mouth in.

On second thought, maybe Yang did kind of like this Blake girl.

* * *

Professor Goodwitch woke everyone early the next morning by moving the curtains on the windows apart with her telekinetic semblance, focused through a riding crop that functioned as a wand. Admittedly, hers was quite the unusual weapon, even compared to others Yang had observed here. Those students who remained asleep even when bathed in piercing morning sunlight were roused by her loud announcement to follow her and the other guides to the locker room. Yang and Ruby stayed close to one another as they took their places in the procession of students. The girls were eventually joined by Jaune, who was frantically trying to re-tie the front laces on his loosening sweatpants. Yang sighed, amused by his familiar lack of coordination. In no time, everyone was hurriedly dispersing to retrieve their belongings and gear up for this morning’s test. The sisters lost Jaune in the chaos, but quickly found their lockers.

The Branwen Tribe gear Yang had carefully laid out inside the locker was untouched and as shiny as ever. She wasted no time getting changed. Even with its many minor dings and scrapes from battle, the mere sight of her custom-made armor set filled her with pride and the burning will to fight. Fortunately for Yang, the second part of the exam to enter Beacon Academy was a field test, which meant she would have more than enough time to do what she did best. Ozpin provided no further information than that, according to Glynda, who had filled the students in as she led them to the locker room before departing without another word.

The bracers Yang wore reflected the bright ceiling lights, drawing her sister’s attention.

“What’s that you’re wearing?” Ruby asked, eyes twinkling with intrigue as Yang adjusted her dragon’s head-themed helmet.

“It’s my battle armor.”

“Wow!” Ruby inched closer, looking Yang up and down as she continued to add on pieces of the set. “Did you make that armor all by yourself?”

“Well,” Yang tutted, “Not exactly. I...helped with the helmet. My mom had a smith in a local village work on it, but I wanted to be a part of it too, so he let me help set the metal.” Conveniently leaving out the part where Raven used her status and the intimidation of the tribe’s reputation in Anima to encourage the metalworker that it was in his best interest to put a rush on the job, Yang grinned and continued. “He thought I was crazy, but I already knew how to use my aura to protect myself if I got burned, so Mom didn’t argue.”

Ruby gasped, enrapt in Yang’s story like it was one of those heroic tales from her childhood that she so fondly remembered. “Wow! That must’ve been really awesome! Dad never lets me help when he does dangerous stuff like that in the repair shop, even though he knows I’ve fought plenty of Grimm before. It’s like he doesn’t think I’ll ever grow up.”

Yang looked at the floor, tightening one of the loops on her chest plate absentmindedly as she listened. “Maybe he just worries about you. I’m sure he knows you can take care of yourself.” The image of Ruby wielding Crescent Rose and annihilating a tree came to mind.

So do I.

“I hope so,” Ruby said, turning to continue removing things from her locker. She blinked and followed the movements of two students who strolled past, one of them chatting nonstop about something Yang couldn’t follow.

The chatty student was a girl with bright orange hair and a blinding pink outfit that seemed to compete with her hair for aesthetic dominance. She skipped along behind a dark-haired boy, giggling about whatever it was she had just said. Her friend was very low profile by comparison. He walked by casually in a green tunic accented by blacks and grays, and light gray pants. The patterns on his clothing were reminiscent of some of the outfits Yang recalled seeing at shop stalls in Mistral. The two students couldn’t have been more different from one another, yet they seemed to get along well enough. Yang couldn’t help but feel they were a reflection of herself and Ruby, in a way.

“Wonder what those two were so worked up about,” Ruby said absently, staring in the direction of the lockers.

Yang snapped out of her distracting thoughts and shrugged. “Who knows?” She paused to observe Ruby, who almost danced with excitement while staring into her open locker at Crescent Rose. “You seem all psyched up today.”

Ruby chuckled. “Yup! No more awkward small talk or getting to know you stuff.” She removed her weapon from the locker and cradled it, rubbing its shiny metal surface. “Today, I get to let my sweetheart do the talking.”

Yang raised an eyebrow. Never before had she seen a young girl speak with such unapologetic glee about committing acts of reckless violence. She couldn’t help but smile, in spite of it all. They were definitely sisters. Ruby cut off her train of thought with a question that came out of nowhere.

“Oh!” She whipped around toward Yang after holstering her weapon. “About the other night.”

“Yeah?”

“You wanted to talk to me about something, right? What was it? I’m sorry, it’s just...I got distracted with Blake, and then the whole thing with Weiss. I guess I just forgot.”

Yang froze for a moment, letting the question fully register in her brain. Even when it did, she felt the need to process it again. The situation was slipping out of her control. She was being very obvious about that fact and needed to school her expression quickly, if Ruby’s narrowed gaze was any indication.

Crap. What do I do?

“N-no,” the armored blonde said, gesturing with both hands, “it’s okay.”

Ruby stared at her quizzically, head slightly tilted, as she waited for the explanation Yang dreaded.

“Look Ruby, it wasn’t a big deal or anything,” she lied. Catching herself, she added, “Well, it was, but it’s not like it wasn’t something I could’ve just told you any time.”

“Okay. Then why not tell me now?”

Damn it. The girl was asking all the right questions. In a matter of seconds, she’d backed Yang into a corner without even knowing it. Now, Yang realized with an inward groan, she had to give some sort of satisfactory answer. Her muscles tensed up. If she continued to lie, she would be no better than her mother or the headmaster. Granted, she hadn’t wanted to reveal her secret on anyone’s terms other than her own, but things didn’t seem to be going her way today.

Ugh. Might as well just say it.

Resigned to the situation, Yang dropped her arms and sighed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Ruby’s curious stare remained fixed on her, the girl’s entrancing silver pupils like shining gemstones under a night sky. Hers were eyes untouched by Remnant’s dark past. Eyes that might soon burst into tears, grow red with rage, or worse still, never look at Yang the same way again. In a moment, she would know which was the case.

“Well, have you ever found out something so unexpected, so crazy, that it turned your life upside down?”

Ruby scratched her head, clearly not relating at all. Yang waved frantically to dismiss her question.

“Never mind, never mind! Look, just...hmm. How do I say this? I found out something really important a few days ago, before I took the test to get into Beacon.”

“Uh huh?” Ruby said, motioning for Yang to go on. Instead, she paused and looked at the floor, scouring her mind for the right words.

Oddly enough, now she knew exactly how her mother must have felt when divulging the truth to her in the first place. Not that relating to Raven meant she condoned her actions in the slightest. In her own defense, her mother had years’ worth of opportunities to reveal the truth to her, but she chose not to do so in all of that time. Yang, on the other hand, had only been sitting on this information for less than a week.

“The truth is, I didn’t come to your cabin in Patch just to speak to Taiyang. I came to talk to both of you...and it wasn’t about the repair shop, either.”

“Oh? Then what for?”

Yang opened her mouth to speak, only to hear Glynda’s voice suddenly echo throughout the locker room. “Would all first year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately.”

The blonde looked around wildly, unsure of the source of the sound. Amused by her ignorance of technology, Ruby pointed to the ceiling, where a blue light shone underneath what Yang previously mistook for a common air vent. It was apparently a similar contraption to a microphone, but wall mounted instead. Finally, it clicked for Yang that this was the device relaying Glynda’s message. Amidst the echo of her drawn out “Ohhhhhh,” Yang heard Ruby stifle a giggle.

Well, so much for telling her - again.

Not sure whether she felt more embarrassed or irritated by the interruption, Yang walked alongside Ruby to the exit with her head down. No sooner did she shake off the nervous energy she’d built up during her second almost-confession than a familiar, unwelcome voice broke the silence. Yang instantly preferred the former situation to her current one.

Students blocked the sisters’ path. They were standing in front of the only exit that led to the wing of the school she and Ruby needed to go to, so taking another route was out of the question. Several rows of lockers ahead of the sisters, Weiss called out for “a little help, please” from someone named Pyrrha. Both Yang and Ruby gasped at the sight of a girl chucking a metal spear directly ahead of her. It missed Weiss by a hair - curse the girl’s amazing aim - snagged Jaune’s hoodie, and embedded itself into the far wall with a loud thunk, pinning the poor guy by the collar.

This new “Pyrrha” person shouted her apology from across the room. Unsurprisingly, Weiss sauntered past Jaune without so much as a glance his way, drawing Yang’s ire once more. Pyrrha trailed after her, pulling her spear free from the wall and leaving Jaune with a few parting words that Yang was too far away to make out. Then she and Weiss disappeared through the doorway.

Yang couldn’t help but wonder if she was the only sane person left on the planet. The pure disrespect she’d witnessed from multiple Beacon students in the past few hours was shocking, to say the least. What was wrong with these students? It was almost like she’d stepped into an entirely different reality. In a way, she had. Still, Yang had expected the difference in manners within the Branwen Tribe versus those at Beacon Academy to be entirely opposite what she was witnessing here. Suddenly the laughter, crass jokes, and roughhousing that she became accustomed to growing up seemed tame compared to the blatant bullying on full display since she arrived at the academy. Ruby would need her support, after all. Shaking her head in disbelief, Yang followed Ruby, who was walking toward Jaune to help him to his feet.

* * *

Every fiber of Yang’s being pinged with anticipation as she looked out at the horizon from the top of Beacon Cliff. She flexed her muscles and reached around to her back to ensure the mechanisms installed there were functional. The loosely fastened metallic pieces on the armor wiggled at her touch, but resisted slightly and snapped back to their resting positions, convincing her that they weren’t going to give out if she needed to use them at any point. She smacked her cheeks and her face flushed with heat. It was go time.

“What?!” Ruby cried out, stunned at Ozpin’s relevation that whomever each student encountered first was to be their partner henceforth.

Yang knew she had to make sure she found Ruby first, but before that, she would need to focus on sticking her landing. She was no good to Ruby with most of her aura drained from something as pathetic as a bad fall. Then all she had to do was hurry in whatever direction she saw Ruby heading toward and reach her quicker than the rest of their peers. Piece of cake.

Per Professor Ozpin’s lengthy explanation that - unsurprisingly - overtook Jaune’s attempt at asking a question, the students would be launched skyward into the deadly Emerald Forest. Naturally, it was chock full of Grimm. Such was not conduct that was very becoming of a supposed role model for budding Huntsmen and Huntresses, but then, that was in keeping with what Yang expected from Ozpin. She came prepared, of course, because judging by Raven’s many stories, death-defying conditions were par for the course of Beacon entrance exams. Reflecting on these memories, Yang flashed a disdainful look the headmaster’s way, hoping he, or at least Professor Goodwitch, would see. She erased the expression as quickly as it appeared when Ruby turned her way, flashing an encouraging smile. Ozpin droned on, but most of the information was just filler.

Jaune yammered on about another question he had, which Yang also tuned out. She had her eyes on the competition. No one was getting to Ruby before her. She crouched, tingles of excitement running through her. The sisters exchanged confident smirks, eager for their sendoff. If there was one thing they had in common, it was a love for adventure and battle. Beside Yang, other students were sent flying from what appeared to be spring-loaded launch pads. In no time, it was her turn.

Flipping a quick thumbs up in Ruby’s direction, she took off at blinding speed. Literally. Yang could hardly see a thing until her aura kicked in, keeping her eyes from watering as much so she could focus.

Gusts of wind hit in heavy waves, some colliding with her armor and breaking up upon impact, while others slid harmlessly along either side of the gleaming metal. She splayed her arms and laughed with genuine happiness in a way she hadn’t since her last days of ignorant bliss back in Anima. No, happier, even. Compared to back then, now she was not only in her element, but also free from the constraints of years of lies and manipulation. Although admittedly, one could argue she’d traded one devil for another.

Thoughts of her new life gave way to concern for her sister. Yang’s launch speed soon petered out. She used the temporary hangtime to glance back toward the cliff. A red blur sped past her a few degrees to the right, obliterating a black bird that was unlucky enough to be flying by at that exact moment upon its descent.

A faint “Birdy, no!” confirmed that she had a lock on Ruby. Now all that was left to do was redirect herself before she touched down.

Yang depressed the mechanism on her back’s armor piece, raising her arms to guide the newly ejected pair of wings that unfolded from the main body. She felt a draft of wind carry her upward and relaxed into the motion. The armor responded well to her already established speed and arc, changing her trajectory at slight movements of her body. She angled her flight path downward again to gain speed, then used that energy to lift up again, repeating the process until she felt certain she would land near enough to Ruby at a non-lethal speed.

When she was a few feet from the ground, Yang retracted her wings and rolled to minimize the impact of her fall. She broke into a run, making a beeline for the general direction she spotted Ruby heading in. Pleased with herself, she let out a quick, “Nailed it!” Her exclamation echoed into the quiet forest, dissipating between the lush green trees.

* * *

The forest was much bigger than it looked from the cliffside. Yang realized with dread that she must have made a wrong turn somewhere, because after walking for at least twenty minutes, she was still no closer to finding Ruby. She found no tracks to follow, heard no voices nearby, and felt no refreshing breeze blowing through her hair. Silence permeated her surroundings, apart from the soft crunch of twigs and grass under her feet.

All that greeted Yang was the unchanging sea of tall trees and overgrown shrubs that even the bravest gardener wouldn’t dare try to prune, for fear of being ripped apart by any Grimm lurking in the shadows. Speaking of the shadows, her own shadow was long, stretched so narrowly now that it merged with the blanket of shade cast by the wide treetops. The day was still new, but it was best not to linger. She wandered over to a clearing where she thought she sensed movement, peering around trees before taking several steps out into the open. Yang noticed a few bent blades of grass, and a faintly visible footprint in the dirt. Leaves hung limply from a disturbed branch. If this was Ruby’s trail, she had to be close. Throwing aside years of training in professional hunting and wilderness survival tactics in her urgency, Yang called out into the emptiness.

“Hellooooooo? Ruby, are you out there? HELLOOOOOOO?!” Exhausted and almost at her wit’s end with this stupid forest, she threw up her hands. “I’m getting bored here.”

Bushes behind her rustled. Her heart jumped. Had she finally found Ruby?

“Is someone there?” Yang asked eagerly, eyeing the direction the sound came from, only to see a plain, undisturbed cluster of bushes and more trees. Still hopeful, she walked over to the natural hedges around the clearing and searched the space behind them with curiosity. “Ruby, is that you?” Her voice rose a touch higher than intended at the end of her sentence, revealing just how ridiculously happy she was to have found-

A guttural growl accompanied a set of fierce red eyes emerging from the darkness. They stared directly into Yang’s soul. She nearly froze. Grimm weren’t foreign to her by any means, but she was so caught off guard, she almost forgot all of the skills she honed up until now. Almost.

“Nope!” she deduced, instinctively double handspringing out of reach of a thick, meaty claw that attempted to shred her to pieces. Her initial shock was promptly replaced by deeply ingrained combat training. An Ursa lumbered out of its hiding spot, fueled by an all-consuming desire to take her life. She could handle the big guy no problem, except for one thing.

It wasn’t alone.

Sensing the attack before it connected, Yang dodged a second Ursa that tried to ‘surprise’ attack her from the left. Such a sloppy attempt was just like one of Salem’s mindless creatures, not realizing that loud stomps and growls would only make sneaking up on a target more difficult. She backflipped again and whipped out her tantō, judging her odds as she formulated a plan of attack. Satisfied with her chances, she regarded the two beasts with a derisive grin.

One of them launched itself at her wildly, its rage-filled abandon leading only to a solid gut punch with her free hand. The Ursa tumbled backward, succeeded by its equally brain-dead partner. Yang ducked under the incoming strike, launching herself from her crouched position to slice vertically through the monster’s exposed chin. The cut was a bit shallow, and she’d meant to get the underbelly, too. No matter. She would still come out on top.

Yang delivered a swift kick to the stunned enemy, landing it squarely beside its comrade in the dirt. Both halves of its jaw hung loosely, which was an admittedly grotesque sight. She almost felt bad until she reminded herself that Grimm weren’t living beings. They were animated by powers beyond her comprehension, but at the end of the day, they were little more than puppets without souls. Reassured by this thought, she fell into a more casual stance, and adopted an attitude to match.

Gesturing conversationally, she asked, “You guys wouldn’t happen to have seen a girl in a red hood, would you?”

The two Ursai didn’t address her sarcastic quip, choosing instead to lunge at her again.

“You could just say no,” Yang added. She deftly hopped away from a sweeping slash, the light breeze that blew through her hair a silent testament to how close she had come to taking a hard hit. Yang backflipped yet again, creating distance as the Ursa followed up with another swipe aimed at her torso. Its second attempt didn’t connect either, only enraging the roaring mass of black and white even further.

She couldn’t help but find the two monsters’ cries of frustration amusing. Creatures of darkness, born to wipe humanity from the face of the planet, were having a tantrum over not being able to hit a teenage girl. If that wasn’t the funniest thing she’d ever-

Yang honed in on a single, solitary strand of bright blonde hair that twisted in lazy arcs through the air. The strand drifted slowly past the bridge of her nose, making her go cross-eyed following its path. Her blood rose to a simmer, then an all-out boil. Yang closed her eyelids and balled her fists, waiting as aura poured out of a reservoir within her, filling her with strength equal to her barely-restrained rage. The Ursai emitted confused growls, but these sounds faded into the back of her mind. She could think of only one thing now.

Revenge.

Both of Yang’s eyes shot open. The air around her sizzled with pent-up energy. Her hard stare dug into the two Grimm with a ferocity that seemed to make even these soulless creatures shudder. They knew Death Herself had come knocking, and almost seemed ready to run. Either way, it didn’t matter. They weren’t going to make it another step.

The soil beneath her feet gave a little, and she sank a good half-inch into the dirt simply by digging in her heels. Then she took a battle stance with her arms at angles by her sides. A wave of heat burst outward around her. The grass and bushes nearby were unlucky enough to be in the wrong place when her semblance activated, singing everything in her immediate vicinity to a crisp. Yang dashed forward with an inhuman level of stoic fury, unsheathing both her primary and secondary blades. She cried out when she took her first swing, slicing away at one of the Ursa with all the ease of carving up a tender cut of meat. With every stroke, she cut deeper and deeper into the now-helpless creature’s underbelly. When she was finished, it looked indistinguishable from shredded beef. At least, apart from the billowing black smoke seeping out of its wounds in thick tendrils.

Giving one final shout, Yang thrust her blades forward, delivering a clean cross-cut slice to the Ursa’s neck. Its body was flung backward through multiple unfortunate trees, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. The severed head it left behind toppled to the ground next to Yang. She whirled around toward the second spawn of Salem, barely hearing the approach of its heavy paws over the noisy creak of one of the fallen trees.

“What?!” she demanded. “You want some, too?”

So be it.

It didn’t matter that this Ursa in particular wasn’t responsible for the damage to her hair. It would fall just like its partner had.

A loud swish cut through the Ursa’s animalistic roar. The creature seized in place, its jaw locked in an open-mouthed stupor as a wet thud sounded, snapping Yang out of her haze of blind anger. She knew that sound well: metal tearing into flesh and bone.

Great. More company.

The Ursa went limp and crashed to the ground, revealing its mysterious attacker. Blake stood victoriously behind the fallen beast. She yanked something loose from the middle of its back, greeting her blonde classmate with a smile. The object she held was a small hooked weapon head at the end of a black ribbon. Yang hadn’t seen anything like it before, and couldn’t stop staring at the thing. Her curiosity was matched only by her disappointment not to have found Ruby before Blake found her. Even so, there was nothing she could do about it now. Ozpin was watching, and he and the other teachers would know if she broke the rules. That aside, Blake had lent her a hand when she could just as easily have walked away. Maybe she was a better person than Yang first gave her credit for in the courtyard. Besides, someone who pissed Weiss off so royally the other night - pun intended - couldn’t be all that bad.

Yang shrugged, feigning indifference. “I coulda taken him.”