Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[MyrtenRose]

Then he sat up, and there was a galvanized snarl and clarified purpose on his face now that his two main responsibilities were back on the safe side of the portals as he stared daggers at the spot Raven's gate had just vanished.

"Open it."

"Excuse me?"​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"No such animal, kitten. Show me justice and I'll show you a fucking unicorn." There was a teasing edge to her voice as she pulled back with a quiet, placating chuckle, though it did more to lessen the gap between their faces than it did to increase the one between their bodies. Among Yang's most intimidating features were her eyes, a fearsome red glare that even at her most exuberant carried all the barely suppressed wrath of a force of nature and an unspoken vow to inflict pain.

"You're wrong"

The words carried such out as such a vehement, violent that the dragon could've been forgiven for thinking that whatever sort of goodwill or protective instinct that had been dredged out of cracks in Blake's steel heart had been dashed to pieces by that single statement, but when her eyes tilted up and saw where Blake's own were boring into as she made that statement, the faunus' own arms finally moving to haphazardly grip the dragon's shoulder protectively, it was clear that wasn't the case. She didn't blame the Dragon for thinking that; there hadn't been any justice in her life. But for as much of the violence Blake was trying desperately to shrug off, to justify after the fact...

The remains of the ring burned around them, the flames licking dangerously against her aura, but it didn't matter. There needed to be a moment, between her foot crushing the man's sternum and the pulling of the trigger she had levelled at him. Not for any extension of the pain, or for her own joy in the moment, but for his sake. So he could see his killer, the cat ears framed by the smoke and flame. So he knew why this reckoning had come.

She saw it in his eyes. What else lurked there she couldn't say; fear, regret, acceptance, whatever else. But the recognition was clear. He knew the debt that was being collected. The eyes did not deny it. Deep down, she still wished it was someone else pulling the trigger; that this could just be a story she read about on the news, far back at home. But even if it wasn't her own, she knew it was true; this kill was earned, this death was necessary.

She slept sounder that night than most

...There was justice in the world, in the work. It was her own ability to deliver it she was questioning. But justice could be found in death, and as she slowly dredged her soul's claws back out of the muck and mud of despair, she was determined to show it.

So it was a bit surreal to see just how much warmth, devotion and affection waited in those same eyes when they traveled up to meet the Hand's now. Not only that, but how much clarity; it was a difficult thing to quantify, but the red of Dragon's eyes was a much duller, softer color than its customary shade of angry crimson, verging on purple and nearly outdone by the mounting bloom of color in her face as she tried to catch Blake's gaze and hold it steady before it went anywhere else.

"Right now I just wanna feel you."

They were eyes that claimed to know Blake, as fully and intimately as any she had seen before—more than that, they were grateful to. Whatever became of the sad, touch-starved and neglected girl from the memories had apparently never died, just gone limp and stopped struggling over the years as the same yearnings—for affection, for companionship, for feeling wanted and needed—that had made the Yang Xiao Long of one world such a staunch sister and huntress rendered this one nothing more than an easy target for a tribe who spat on such notions as deficiencies. Yet the yearnings remained, and in the midst of whatever nightmare their souls had just been entangled in every single one of them appeared to have woken up, swiveled, and recalibrated with Blake as the center of their crosshairs. The gaze was as much a caress as anything she could've been doing with her hands, and rather than violence the only promise those eyes carried now was one of protection; a silent vow to burn herself up like the sun if it meant keeping Blake safe and warm, to take care of her and do anything and everything in her power to keep her from feeling pain like that ever again.

The horror was still there. The rage was still there, the dark clouds of sorrow and fury and pain she felt watching her kitty be abused like that at the hands of those lesser-thans, watching her just let it happen, all but guaranteed to brew into a violent storm for another time. But she'd always been good at taking a hit, physical or emotional, and it was clear she was deriving every bit as much comfort from the effort to soothe her as Blake herself may have been, if not more. Between the adrenaline, her semblance, and Blake's efforts to restore her body's bloodflow to working order the Dragon was like a furnace, suggesting a less fearsome and more honestly embarrassing origin of the moniker she answered to more than her actual name. She tilted forward, eyes drifting shut as she tried to butt her forehead against the smaller woman's and leave it there, hoping they could take a moment to sort of just bask in each other.

Until she Yang finally got her to focus back in on her eyes, and everything went sideways again. A mental stumble as clear on her face as if she'd tripped and ate shit in the physical realm instead, a look far different than the hate, fondness, and adoration she was used to these days, one that was just... soft.

"...but..."

She could feel it slipping away, but not in a violent draining, a rapacious assault upon her very existence, but a simple quelling of the storm. It was still there, merely a thunderstorm compared to the hurricane of rage and fury and righteousness, but it was enough that she let out a exhausted sigh and let the Dragon's forehead press against her own.

"...fine. If its not what you want, then fine."

"So... that's over, then."

Ren's voice was as composed as ever and clouded by only a hint of uncertainty as he finally inched close enough to issue his question, weapons still palmed and leveled in their direction. He kept looking over them with a wary frown, like he could see things unbeknownst to them or anyone else, and Dragon found the second intrusion in as many minutes irritating enough to snap her head back up with a vexed growl, eyes whipped towards him flared in warning. He stopped in his tracks, but that was as far as it went outside of Yang shifting the arm she had around Blake to her abdomen, something equal parts carnal, protective and territorial in how she kept it there and stalked the whole way around to the faunus's back with a proximity that ensured their bodies rubbed continuously. By the time she came to a stop behind Blake she was practically spooning her, and frankly doing a killer job of it given she was still only working with half an arm as she dropped her chin heavily in the curve of the faunus's shoulder.

"Want I make 'em go away?" Came her questioning murmur, lips flush against Blake's neck so they tickled her skin and made the query inaudible to all except her. Her eyes, though, stayed on Ren, and a moment later Tiger also found herself recipient of the same dark, threatening smoulder, Dragon sizing her up like a piece of meat she was prepared to rip off the bone.

"We'll discuss your insubordination against the high leader's orders later, Tiger."

Whatever grains of softness had mixed into her words before that was gone entirely, Blake's own eyes finally swivelling back to the other faunus in the room, though at least now her eyes were merely frozen with cold anger as she continued.

"For now, help Lie Ren escort these two to the cells."

If either of them thought to question why she felt she had the authority to give the other Ozpinite in the room orders, she answered that shortly. "We're going to see if we can't reattach the dragon's other arm."

 

[Gus Gungus]

"You're wrong"

The words carried such out as such a vehement, violent that the dragon could've been forgiven for thinking that whatever sort of goodwill or protective instinct that had been dredged out of cracks in Blake's steel heart had been dashed to pieces by that single statement, but when her eyes tilted up and saw where Blake's own were boring into as she made that statement, the faunus' own arms finally moving to haphazardly grip the dragon's shoulder protectively, it was clear that wasn't the case. She didn't blame the Dragon for thinking that; there hadn't been any justice in her life. But for as much of the violence Blake was trying desperately to shrug off, to justify after the fact...
...There was justice in the world, in the work. It was her own ability to deliver it she was questioning. But justice could be found in death, and as she slowly dredged her soul's claws back out of the muck and mud of despair, she was determined to show it.

The sudden teeth in Blake's tone (and the sheer size of them) had a sullen huff of air emerge from Dragon's nostrils like twin jets of steam, as hot as her namesake's breath against the other killer's collar as something rumbled in the back of her throat. The act of meeting the amber eyes initially had her own flicker with the hint of a challenge, her brain's wiring always instinctively pushing to meet teeth with teeth; rather than any retaliatory anger or violent tendencies, though, the most that showed on her face was a surly frown of dismay, like she was more aggrieved at the mood being shot than anything, less concerned with the point of disagreement than she was with how to get it back.

There was a more thoughtful sheen to her eyes than anyone was used to seeing as they narrowed, and while there wasn't a big enough deferential bone in her body to bite her tongue entirely there was still a level of accedence in the fact that she kept her muttered answer limited to sarcasm.

"About the unicorns? Golly fuckin gee, I knew it."

​

Until she Yang finally got her to focus back in on her eyes, and everything went sideways again. A mental stumble as clear on her face as if she'd tripped and ate shit in the physical realm instead, a look far different than the hate, fondness, and adoration she was used to these days, one that was just... soft.

"...but..."

She could feel it slipping away, but not in a violent draining, a rapacious assault upon her very existence, but a simple quelling of the storm. It was still there, merely a thunderstorm compared to the hurricane of rage and fury and righteousness, but it was enough that she let out a exhausted sigh and let the Dragon's forehead press against her own.

"...fine. If its not what you want, then fine."

"We'll discuss your insubordination against the high leader's orders later, Tiger."

Whatever grains of softness had mixed into her words before that was gone entirely, Blake's own eyes finally swivelling back to the other faunus in the room, though at least now her eyes were merely frozen with cold anger as she continued.

"For now, help Lie Ren escort these two to the cells."

If either of them thought to question why she felt she had the authority to give the other Ozpinite in the room orders, she answered that shortly. "We're going to see if we can't reattach the dragon's other arm."

Yang had kind of a thing about being ignored, but not giving her any verbal attention seemed to be the third free pass through the typical minefield that was dealing with the berserker the Hand found herself privy to in as many minutes, with no apparent end in sight. Right now she seemed more than content with sort of just hanging out of Blake the way she was, like a weighted, heated blanket around her shoulders as she continued eyeing Tiger and Ren hungrily while she addressed them, stroking calming circles around the faunus's midriff to the best of her ability with what she had to work with. The mention of her arm surprised her, as evidenced by the tiny spasm of her chest and quickening of her pulse against Blake's back that constituted a silent gasp, but there was nothing silent about the raucous snicker she burst out with a moment later as she slid her face further over her shoulder to try catch her eye again.

"Eager." She teased, meaning kept cryptic behind a wink. "Yeah, yeah, I guess I can see how everyone's quality of life goes up the more of my own fingers I have. Gotta say though, kitcat, I'm not some expert on faunus biology or anything but I'm preeeetty sure you're not rockin' a full set yourself. Can't we fix your hand first? You can just cast that same hocus pocus shit you did on me."

"Tread carefully." Ren's impassive voice interrupted them as he stepped forward, guns stowed and already moving towards Raven. He had no time for whatever this was, but the way his eyes flickered from Blake to the Dragon and back again when he slipped past them made it clear the words were a piece of advice to his fellow phlegmatic killer, not a threat.

The way Dragon wrapped her arm around Blake tighter and growled back at him made it clear she didn't give a shit.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"Excuse me?"

"Y'know some phrases don't need elaborating, sis. They stand on their own two feet. 'Happy hour'. 'No parking'. 'Open. It." The resolute grimace on his face only set deeper at her words, but he didn't actually turn to face her, nor otherwise take his eyes off the space her portal had occupied. Harbinger whirled in his grip, collapsing from its extended scythe formation back into the defter sword.

"Go big or go home, right? They're still reeling. I can get in and get her out before they know what's what. We just pulled off one suicide run, what's a second?"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

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"Y'know some phrases don't need elaborating, sis. They stand on their own two feet. 'Happy hour'. 'No parking'. 'Open. It." The resolute grimace on his face only set deeper at her words, but he didn't actually turn to face her, nor otherwise take his eyes off the space her portal had occupied. Harbinger whirled in his grip, collapsing from its extended scythe formation back into the defter sword.

"Go big or go home, right? They're still reeling. I can get in and get her out before they know what's what. We just pulled off one suicide run, what's a second?"​

"You can't be serious." Raven wanted to laugh at what must have been a real bad joke, but the serious tone in his voice put an end to that feeling. Instead of doing that, she shook her head in disbelief. "Yeah, but unlike what you just said, happy hour and no parking are phrases that aren't completely insane!" Her eyes narrowed as she stared at his back. "Go big or go home?" She quoted him. "This isn't some school sports game, or drunken gambling at some casino! That whole place is on high alert after what we just did, and you want to go back to...what? Your plan is to look through an entire ridiculously giant monstrosity? You have no idea where she even is in that thing. No clue where to even start searching and you have no idea how many threats are lurking in those halls you plan to poke around in while trying to find out!"

She shook her head again. "If you seriously think I'm going to let you press your luck this badly, you're mistaken."​

 

[MidwayLives]

"Want I make 'em go away?" Came her questioning murmur, lips flush against Blake's neck so they tickled her skin and made the query inaudible to all except her. Her eyes, though, stayed on Ren, and a moment later Tiger also found herself recipient of the same dark, threatening smoulder, Dragon sizing her up like a piece of meat she was prepared to rip off the bone.

Tiger hadn't had too many chances to scuffle with Yang Xiao Long.

Either version of her for that matter. One was ostensibly an ally as far as Tiger knew. The other from this different world? Well, it hadn't been much of a fight Tiger would freely admit. It'd been one good punch that practically deactivated Tiger's semblance/caused her to vomit up her smoke in one go. Being as fighting was the only thing that Tiger took any kind of reasonable pride/satisfaction in, she would have gladly been up for a rematch at any point.

Needless to say that given the protruding bone from the flesh and overall poor looking condition? Tiger had mixed feelings.

She'd debated for a moment or two during the skirmish in Weiss's office...that when the heiress was at her feet, unconscious and unable to defend herself? All it would have taken was a quick stomp and the faunus would have had a victory to lord over for decades to come. Probably. Tiger didn't think ahead like that. She was better focused in the present. In the end, obviously, Tiger neglected to go through with it. The thought of fighting someone you know couldn't beat you without encouraging them to get stronger(Hazel)or when they weren't at their physical best let alone able to defend themselves? It didn't sit quite right with her. It was why she hadn't assisted in butchering Winter. Her hands still carried the blood....but if she'd felt any kind of need to take solace for what had transpired in that cell it'd bloom from her not having done the actual deed.

....But if one was willing to fight despite it all? It'd be rude of Tiger to decline based on her own beliefs.

She took a step forward.-
​

"We'll discuss your insubordination against the high leader's orders later, Tiger."

Whatever grains of softness had mixed into her words before that was gone entirely, Blake's own eyes finally swivelling back to the other faunus in the room, though at least now her eyes were merely frozen with cold anger as she continued.

"....Blake."

Tiger paused in her stride.

Wasn't too much of a surprise. Once she'd learned that Tiger hadn't left with the others? Something like that was bound to crop up sooner or later. The gaze wasn't met with any major reaction. Just those same red eyes staring straight ahead. Which the woman who wore the moniker of 'Tiger' felt was her lot in life. Looking straight ahead without too many secondary thoughts. But it'd been through her time with the Hand and the various fights she'd got into as of late from chasing down that masked man who could expel fog from his body and fighting that diminutive woman with the hammer. All choices that Tiger had deliberately made. All because she'd felt inspired.

That same inspiration had got her to choose to stay behind.

To see what else she could get herself into.

'She probably wouldn't accept that as an explanation. Definitely won't once I tell her.' Tiger thought to herself.

All while her expression never changed on the outside.

"As you say, Hand."
​

"For now, help Lie Ren escort these two to the cells."

If either of them thought to question why she felt she had the authority to give the other Ozpinite in the room orders, she answered that shortly. "We're going to see if we can't reattach the dragon's other arm."

Tiger nodded and moved past the two with not even a glance thrown Dragon's way.

The faunus fought because she enjoyed it. Getting angry and fighting....soured the whole thing. Much like not getting an instant killshot when one went hunting. Letting the animal tense up soils the meat and ruins the experience. Dealing with anything that wasn't outright enjoyment of the visceral feeling of making you and your opponent bleed took away from the fighting for Tiger.

As she approached Masque's fallen form, Tiger looked her over from top to bottom. It'd looked as though she'd been through the wringer. An experience that Tiger was all too familiar with. "Time to go." She murmured as she moved to reach down and grab Masque's shirt collar.

....But then she froze.

Her ears stood up and twitched and her hand stopped inches away from Masque.

All anyone else might have seen was Masque's empty sleeve rustle.

But both Blake and Tiger heard it for sure. Tiger....just wasn't sure what it'd been.

'It sounded like...like a beast. A low rumble from a predator warning you away from it's territory. A statement: you're making a mistake.'

...For once in her life it seemed as though something had caused Tiger's usually passive expression to break. Her left eyebrow arched in befuddlement and her hand hadn't moved any closer. Her face masked by her hair and her head turned away from Tiger, the faunus didn't notice the feral girl's face scrunching up.

'Look at what they've done to us, Ruby! Oh....Yang saved you but at what cost? They're going to take us away....Unless you do something, Ruby. Unless we do something. So, wake up, Ruby...' The voice of the other 'Ruby' that Masque had been seeing chimed over and over in her head. 'Wake up....'


"̸͙̈́W̷̧̰̥̪̹̬͓̖̲͕͙̪͈̺̭͚̥̦̓̓͒͆͌͑͗̓͂̔̈́͘͜͝a̵͉͂̋k̸̛̞̗̣̘̼̼̙̹͇̱̹̞̫̥͔͕̪̳͈̉́͗͗̋̓̓̒̽̑͗̿̊̐̇͂́̈̕̕ȩ̸̧̖̤̹̯̤̠̣̜͓̘̲͚͙̫̦̤͌͂̊̏̚̕̕͠͝͠ͅ ̴̡̢̧̗͓͖̻̥͚̩̞̠̯͓͉͉̪̙̦͉̔̉̔u̸̢̯̥̮͕͉̖̜̜̱̺̮̱̲͈͇̱͐̈̋́̿͋̊̋̅͊͋̈́̕̚͝ͅp̴̤̣̪̈́̒̍̈́̍͒́̋͋̑̀̏͆̈́̚͠ ̷̧͉̥̬̖̠̖̳̻̱̱̳̻̱͍̗͓͔͚̉͆̈͋̀͒̔̊̉̕̚͜͜͠͠a̵͔̜̭͕̙̺̤̱̅̈ͅͅn̸̘͊͗̉͗̊͆̅͊͐̀̃̌d̷̡͕̩͍̖͎̻̭͎̦̘̥͕̱̬̦̘͇̲̻̈́̀͒ ̵̡̨̧̨̧̭̯͚̫͈̲̗̟̭͚̞̭̓̊͋̊̓̈́̀̒̑͛̀̈͋͂̽͛̈́͜͝͠ͅṯ̶̞̪̯͔͕̖̤͎͉̤́̽ä̶̘̠̼̎͗͛̈́͝ͅs̷̤̹͖̿t̶̨̡̘̠̺͉̞̘̼͚̣̜̮͓͍̉̆͛̐̆́̉̽́̑̓̋͆̈́́̕͜͠͠e̷̤̞̯̭̽̆̄̄͌ ̵̬̰̲̦̗͙̰̲̤̗̘̮͇̘̘̺̤̍͆͂̇̊̿͛̓͠ͅẗ̴̙́̏̃͒͋̌̒̀͠͝͠ĥ̷̨̢̯̪̤̦̙͈̙̤̥̗̤͍̱̩̞͙̰̄̈́̎́͂̀͂̑̆̽̃̿͆͛̚͜e̷͖̋̈́̈̊͆̑̂̄́͘ ̷̰̩̲̙̈̽̏͂͆͠b̵̯̳̳̩̼̾̑́̍̌̈́̿̈́̋͂͌̂l̵̲̰̠̯̓̓͒́ơ̴̭̻̪̄́̒̆̂̾̾̽̍̈͂͛̊̍͋̚͝͠o̵̢̡̘̳͍̭̤̩͕̱̠̬̓̊͋͗̕ͅḍ̸̡͇̠̖̫̙̻͙͙̪̹͈̇̓̑̆̍̅͛͂́̈"̸̨̰̹̞̼̱̙̘͒́



Masque's eyes flickered open and her head snapped towards Tiger catching the faunus off guard. From the look of things, Tiger hadn't expected her to be able to move: let alone wake up! Masque's face was marked with a trail of crimson blood that split halfway down her face and dripped down her chin. Her chest heaved and before any words could escape from Tiger's lips, Masque lashed out with a wild snarl.

*SHUNK*

If you were to run this scenario over a dozen times, 99% of the time this would never have happened.

This was the 1% where it did.

The blood spilled down Tiger's forearm as Masque clung from it, her nostrils flaring rapidly as though she were a lion with a prey's throat in her mouth. Her teeth piercing through Tiger's left arm, staining the faunus's arm with the brightly lit liquid. Her arm hung at her side the holes that Blake's boots had pierced through it still bleeding. If one looked close enough it'd appear that in the heat of the moment that Masque had bit down with such force that she'd actually managed to crack a tooth. A small trail started to ooze down her bottom lip and straight down her chin. The bandit's eyes weren't focused on the woman she'd just bitten like a wild animal, however. They were looking past her to the one that had left Masque in such a state. The one that her sister was currently clinging to.

Blake.

Masque's nostrils flared like a beast getting out it's aggression. Her arm twitched and her wrist slowly started to raise itself. Her fingers pointed outwards in Blake's direction. As though she wished she could just reach out and grab the faunus from where she was. All while her teeth were still sunk into Tiger's flesh. "Grrrr....ghhhhh....hghhh....." Masque snarled between blood sloshing over her teeth. Tiger for her part hadn't cried out in pain at all. In fact she didn't seem too perturbed at all by what had transpired. If her next words meant anything it seemed as though she'd welcomed it, unexpected as it may have been.

"I have...no doubts...This'll not be the only pain I feel today....So...I let it be..."

She started to bring her arm inwards, dragging Masque's knees across the floor. Earning a snarl and growl from her in the process.

".....You're running on pure adrenaline. That's all. I doubt....you're even fully cognizant..."

"Grrrrrr......"

Tiger balled her other hand up into a fist.

"....If this is the worst pain I'll experience today...? I should count myself...."

She swung out...

"Lucky."

From the briefest of glances it'd seem as though Tiger had struck with not just enough force to dislodge Masque but to break her jaw entirely. Appearances could certainly be deceiving however and as Masque crumpled to the floor, her left eye closing upon the great impact it'd just been dealt, it soon became clear that at least four teeth had been knocked loose by Tiger's punch. Where were they exactly? Well, take a closer look at Tiger's arm wounds and piece it together for yourself. Whether she knew it herself, so wrapped up in her primal anger, she'd held down on Tiger's forearm so tightly that when the force behind Tiger's blow came into the mix, it'd ripped four of her teeth straight out of her mouth and left them lodged in the arm. As Masque squirmed and coughed, her eyes resumed their focus on Blake. The one who'd been mere seconds away from blowing her brains out all over this floor. The one who'd stopped her was her sister. The same woman that Blake had so close to her.

'Look at her, Ruby. She's hurt us.....In more ways than one! It's one thing to threaten us...but she's taken our sister! OURS!!!!!'

Masque coughed and hissed as she tried pushing herself up. Even the arrival of Tiger's shadow looming overhead didn't break her gaze.

Tiger saw the state Masque's body was in and frowned. It was clear from body language alone that this young girl had no intentions of giving up or coming peacefully to be contained. In any other case Tiger would have begrudgingly knocked them out and did what needed to be done. ....Here, it felt as though she were putting down a rabid animal. One that wasn't even paying her any mind. ...It was almost a more disturbing feeling than whatever she'd heard making that noise just moments ago. "I think...I've indulged your determination...quite enough..."

*THWACK*

The punch hit Masque full on in the side of the head. She crumpled to the ground again and weakly coughed. The one eye that hadn't closed continued to stare down Blake but her body made no more efforts to move. Ignoring the deep bitemarks that Masque had left on her for the time being, Tiger grabbed Masque by the back of her shirt and hoisted her off her feet. It was only then did Masque 'come to life' again. Her head and neck thrashing in Tiger's grip.

"GRRRRRR!!! RRRRRRRRAAAAAGHH!!!!!!! RRRRRRRRAHHHHHHHH!!!!!"


She got further and further away.....until...


"BLAKE!!!!!!!"

.....Then she got too far to hear.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"You can't be serious." Raven wanted to laugh at what must have been a real bad joke, but the serious tone in his voice put an end to that feeling. Instead of doing that, she shook her head in disbelief. "Yeah, but unlike what you just said, happy hour and no parking are phrases that aren't completely insane!" Her eyes narrowed as she stared at his back. "Go big or go home?" She quoted him. "This isn't some school sports game, or drunken gambling at some casino! That whole place is on high alert after what we just did, and you want to go back to...what? Your plan is to look through an entire ridiculously giant monstrosity? You have no idea where she even is in that thing. No clue where to even start searching and you have no idea how many threats are lurking in those halls you plan to poke around in while trying to find out!"

She shook her head again. "If you seriously think I'm going to let you press your luck this badly, you're mistaken."

"Yeah, well, that's the gig," he grunted coarsely, little to no apparent interest in breaking down his strategy or the psychology behind it or whatever else. He dropped into a tense half-crouch, scowl still fixed on his point of contact like a linebacker preparing to charge. "Maybe I should just stop expecting you to get that. Now open it. And watch over Ruby and Yang while I'm gone."

​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Yeah, well, that's the gig," he grunted coarsely, little to no apparent interest in breaking down his strategy or the psychology behind it or whatever else. He dropped into a tense half-crouch, scowl still fixed on his point of contact like a linebacker preparing to charge. "Maybe I should just stop expecting you to get that—​

“NO!”

Her frustrated shout interrupted whatever else he was going to say. Raven was having none of it. “Look, I get it. I haven’t been the huntress the way you’ve been a huntsman. Not for years now. I wasn’t brave enough to stay on that path, to stand my ground. I’m not even half as brave as my daughter, and maybe I’ll never be! Maybe I’ll never be as good as this world’s version of me, hell, maybe I’ll never be worthy of the title of huntress again! But that doesn’t mean you get to wave that around in my face to try and guilt me into agreeing to your insanely stupid ideas!” She shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest.

“I secured the relic for you, twice. I tried to help you when you were down in your alcoholic haze and I stepped away when you demanded I did. I agreed to this attack on Oz and his forces, with our straight shot to him when he was vulnerable, and I did it without hesitation. It made sense and we could get in and out in a blink! I followed you both in that because you’re a better huntsman and huntress than I am, I fully admit that. But there’s more to being a huntress than just being brave and bold! You have to be smart, too!”

Raven exhaled, a low and painful sigh escaping her. “And this idea of yours? It is really stupid. There’s no easy out and no telling how long you’d be in there, trying to locate her. I’m not doing it. I’m not going to help you in getting yourself killed.” She lowered her hands to her side and turned around. She muttered something further but it was impossible to make out, and then she hurriedly rushed out of the room. Out of the building entirely, even, making for the cold air of Vacuo outside.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Yang, who was already off balance from being on the receiving end of a protective older sister yeet, except the one who did it to her was a god damn ghost when you got down to the brass tacks of it, had just barely gotten to her feet with a flummoxed frown before Ruby crashed into her "W-whoa, hey hey, its okay, we're good now, you're good now." She said firmly, wrapping Ruby up protectively in a return hug as she slowly caught her breath.

"What happened in there sis? You looked-"

That whole angle went over about as well as her blossoming friendship with Blake had, the tremulous frown Weiss's lips had formed slowly tightening into an affronted sneer as Yang got her say in before she could sort of just preemptively usher her out like she had wanted.

View attachment 862936

"Well that's just dumb! My life has NOT been random! I didn't end up with everything I have, I haven't overcome everything I have, just to be told it all meant nothing! I know this might be difficult for someone like you to understand but I am a Schnee, okay, a real Schnee, I was meant for greatness from the moment I set foot in this world and I will NOT be led to believe otherwise by someHEY—!"





View attachment 862958

"You stop."

The astoundingly petty huff was the product of a Weiss who looked bitter, deflated, and more than a bit dazed after a moment of furious reflexive kicking gave way to her sort of just hanging there, pale legs dangling as she slouched in Yang's grip. She looked, felt, and honestly probably was kind of pathetic, trying to reconcile her irritation at just how many times she'd been manhandled by this gangly idiot today with how little she actually minded it.

In the end, she failed.




Her own arms were folded as Yang trailed off, hand splayed with fingertips resting against her brow in one of the purest nonvocal expressions of a groan any of them had ever seen. She didn't look up, sounding so drained it was her lips were on autopilot when they started automatically forming words, preceded by a short, deadpan snort.

"Running off to meander around the desert aimlessly with your little group is not the most efficient way forward, Yang, thank you. I can't... shy away from putting a hundred percent of myself into this, okay? There's too much to do. I have too much to atone for."





"It wasn't supposed to happen!" She interrupted with a sudden, objecting whine, jolted to life by the sudden onslaught of guilt, indignation, envy and embarrassment she felt as Yang's eyes burst to life and that particular elephant in the whale was drawn attention to. She stepped forward, some minor urgency in how she touched the huntress's arm. "I had this failsafe implanted and—and I was going to use it as leverage but Belladonna is just so desperate to see me brought low and she just triggered it! So it was simply an isolated case of wires being crossed, that's all, and, and I WASN'T THINKING OF YOU IN ANY MEANINGFUL CAPACITY IT WAS JUST A PASSING WHIM! Which is to say, you're the only person I've had a friendly conversation with in quite some time, you see, so of course it'd be you, I-I was just thinking about something funny you said! No I can't remember it now—"





Luckily her increasingly long-winded and incoherent explanation had the spotlight moved away before it could become too long-winded and incoherent by whatever in the world had made that noise, which gave Weiss the breather she needed to sag into folded arms and pinch her brow with a distraught shake of the head.

"...Gods, Yang. You and your family just need to leave this place."




"—WHO???"

It was more Yang's reaction to the sudden loud noise than the noise itself that had Weiss jolt to attention, but either way she had a hand over her heart and a glower frigid enough to chill Penny's circuits sent her way almost instantly as she rolled her eyes.





"Oh, delightful. I thought I felt a migraine coming on. Must you always—"





Weiss had likewise had enough tact to curtail whatever scathing criticism she was about to level Penny's way when she caught sight of her expression, little to no reaction given to the way Winter stepped up to the android's side and placed a hand on her shoulder for her second attempt. It felt... strange. Real enough, but certainly not flesh and blood; though there was little to differentiate the small, encouraging smile on the summon's face from the one both world's Pennies were familiar with save its more ethereal qualities.

The more corporeal Schnee, on the other hand, pursed her lips together in thought at the information relayed before she flipped her attention back to Yang.

"That—"





View attachment 862970

"Wha—already?! I thought we were having a conversation! I mean... I wanted to have a conversation but there was just a lot to cover in a very short amount of time, and we don't..."

So caught off-guard was she by Yang's sudden acquiescence that she didn't even bother filtering how hilariously unfair, hypocritical and contradictory her subsequent objection was as she completely flip flopped. It was obvious by the third word how little Weiss actually wanted her to go, and by the fourth it was clear that her level of contriteness for spoiling what had every possibility of being the last time her and Yang ever spoke meant it wasn't going to be her who forced the blonde to break; at least, not without feeling like she'd unburdened her at least slightly. She grasped her hands back much tighter, slightly misty eyed as she nodded along rapidly to every word even while subtly trying to steer her towards the portal, opting for guile over brute force this time.

"Yang, from my 18th birthday I practically drove my kingdom's economy. By age 20 I was a tax evader 20 times over; when the news wanted to run a story, they called my office to make sure it was okay first. If the IRS and the media can't make me crack then what makes you think this ragtag bunch of degenerates and lowlifes have a hope?"

She smiled, thinly but in what she hoped was a reassuring way. Something seemed to occur to her as she drank in Yang's eyes for a final time, and her own flew open as the upwards pull on her smile grew a bit less forced.

"Wait, I—! Okay. Midnight, your time. Tuesdays and Saturdays. I can make sure I'm not disturbed, and if there's a piece of information worth sharing—Or even if—" She cast a furtive glance over her shoulder, then leaned in with a hushed tone as if what they were discussing was highly sensitive. "Well, I see no reason it couldn't be perfectly pleasant under the right circumstances. Those circumstances being you, bringing alcohol. I could clear a nice space, we could set out a nice picnic blanket also provided by you... it could be..." There was a sense that she had intended to say 'fun', but she flapped her hand with a slightly jittery cough instead. "You know. Like before? If that sounds palatable enough to you, of course. Just think about it!"

Her hands were a flurry of motion as they finally pulled away and waved off any attempt at a response, stepping back a few times and folding her arms in a dainty sort of way to size Yang up with a thoughtful smirk.

"Oh, and make sure you bring glasses or we'll be drinking from the same bottle." She tapped her chin, and the mischievous squint she gave went a long way towards giving her a mild note of mischief, as if to even suggest what she was about to say were the very height of scandal.

View attachment 863015

"Unless you aren't opposed to that sort of thing...?"

A beat passed. Her eyes lidded further. Weiss had seen Penny circling, inching closer, and actually timed her step back so it coincided with Yang getting bodied through the portal, not about to surrender the last word and honestly rather looking forward to seeing her get a taste of her own medicine for a change.

Yang certainly did get bodied through the portal. Unbeknownst to all, however, someone else made it there a split-second before Penny did, more ruthless and less willing to compromise in her approach.

Spoiler

View attachment 863022

A baffled, incredulous "Why???" was the last thing any of them recalled hearing before the portal snapped shut.




Qrow was flat on his back, gazing blankly up at the ceiling as he kind of just took a minute and tried to decompress from all that. So blank was his expression, in fact, that it almost looked like he had somehow totally missed all discussion of who was missing, and neglected to do a quick headcount himself.

Then he sat up, and there was a galvanized snarl and clarified purpose on his face now that his two main responsibilities were back on the safe side of the portals as he stared daggers at the spot Raven's gate had just vanished.

View attachment 863033

"Open it."​

Or they weren't good now, cool, cool cool cool cool cool cool, cool, cool.

"As much as I really don't wanna say it," she started wryly enough from where her head was shifted to rest atop Ruby's, before her voice went more somber, and soft "-I think Mom's right here, uncle qrow. This isn't like the trip in. It may have been risky, stupid even, but at least we had a plan. We don't know where they are, or if they're alive-"

"-at whole place is on high alert after what we just did, and you want to go back to...what? Your plan is to look through an entire ridiculously giant monstrosity? You have no idea where she even is in that thing. No clue where to even start searching and you have no idea how many threats are lurking in those halls you plan to poke around in while trying to find out!"

"From the room we were in, for the optimal route you would have to take a left, then a right, go down past 4 halls and two doors before turning right again, cut or blast through the floor sixty meters in that direction, exit the room you arrived in, go left thirty seven meters, then left again for 127 meters to arrive at the room the other Yang Xiao Long had been resting in before we struck, assuming they have not been moved. There were two hundred and thirty seven beings of at least 99% grimm flesh within the radius on my initial scan, though it is likely that the transport itself is capable of spawning more, much like the Dragon grimm that attacked Beacon, so this number could be considered limitless for all intents and tactical purposes, at least until we have a better understanding of whether or not such creatures have a limit as to what they can create." Penny declared.

"....o....kay." Yang said with a haggard, frazzled sigh as she ruffled Ruby's hair in a silent promise to pick that up when they got back before she gently pried herself free "I didn't follow all of that, but if Penny knows where we're going then we can just follow her-"

"N-no!" Penny immediately wobbled her head, her hands clutched to her chest as she glanced down. "I... I cannot go through there. If Pyrrha Nikos is in the same room as miss Schnee when we return, there is a 0 percent chance that I am not...." She just sort of trailed off, her electronic mind drifting off in a very human fashion towards much darker memories before she shook her head again.

"Well, I mean..." Yang's face was overtaken with a frustrated wince as she fiddled with a few locks of her hair, compassion for their metal companion and a kinda total and complete lack of any sort of tactical soundness to just tossing themselves back into the fire after crawling out of it (Literally in her case, her jacket singed and her arm an angry red all the way up, to her shoulder, with a few angrier burns where her metal arm touched her stump) at war with a complete inability in her to just leave someone behind to die when there was a chance to do something.

"....Weiss knows." She eventually said. Her teeth were clenched, and her tone unsure, opting for the less aggressive and frankly more cowardly plan not sitting well with her even as she was the one who voiced it. "If... if they were going to kill them, uncle, they're.... they're probably already..........." She coughed and glanced away with a huff before she turned back. "But if they're not, our best chance for us to get them out safely is for us not to be the ones to do it."

 

[Gus Gungus]

“NO!”

Her frustrated shout interrupted whatever else he was going to say. Raven was having none of it. “Look, I get it. I haven’t been the huntress the way you’ve been a huntsman. Not for years now. I wasn’t brave enough to stay on that path, to stand my ground. I’m not even half as brave as my daughter, and maybe I’ll never be! Maybe I’ll never be as good as this world’s version of me, hell, maybe I’ll never be worthy of the title of huntress again! But that doesn’t mean you get to wave that around in my face to try and guilt me into agreeing to your insanely stupid ideas!” She shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest.

“I secured the relic for you, twice. I tried to help you when you were down in your alcoholic haze and I stepped away when you demanded I did. I agreed to this attack on Oz and his forces, with our straight shot to him when he was vulnerable, and I did it without hesitation. It made sense and we could get in and out in a blink! I followed you both in that because you’re a better huntsman and huntress than I am, I fully admit that. But there’s more to being a huntress than just being brave and bold! You have to be smart, too!”

Raven exhaled, a low and painful sigh escaping her. “And this idea of yours? It is really stupid. There’s no easy out and no telling how long you’d be in there, trying to locate her. I’m not doing it. I’m not going to help you in getting yourself killed.” She lowered her hands to her side and turned around. She muttered something further but it was impossible to make out, and then she hurriedly rushed out of the room. Out of the building entirely, even, making for the cold air of Vacuo outside.

"....Weiss knows." She eventually said. Her teeth were clenched, and her tone unsure, opting for the less aggressive and frankly more cowardly plan not sitting well with her even as she was the one who voiced it. "If... if they were going to kill them, uncle, they're.... they're probably already..........." She coughed and glanced away with a huff before she turned back. "But if they're not-"

"This was MY IDEA!"

Yang, for once, found herself on the receiving end of her words being swallowed up the bass of an explosive temper fit as Qrow turned, swung, and slugged one of the inn's wooden support beams full force, having ended up next to it after automatically following Raven halfway across the room during her spiel. He had stopped there, back and shoulders uncommonly still from the perspective of the others in the room, and none of them could see the confounded snarl or twitchy eye he leveled at the door his sister had left through until his knuckles were already hitting the wood with a sharp, splintering crack.

Then he was gone himself, a bolt of black feathers disappearing through the Nora-shaped hole in the wall, and any efforts to pursue his egress were made complicated as the doorframe leading to the darkened corridor was abruptly filled by a figure more daunting to face than Pyrrha, Ozma or anyone at that point: the innkeep. His hulking 6'8 form scrubbed his crusty eyes sleepily, clad in baggy PJs and a sleeping cap, not awake enough to fully process the extent of the damages to his common room.



"Why?"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Yang, who was already off balance from being on the receiving end of a protective older sister yeet, except the one who did it to her was a god damn ghost when you got down to the brass tacks of it, had just barely gotten to her feet with a flummoxed frown before Ruby crashed into her "W-whoa, hey hey, its okay, we're good now, you're good now." She said firmly, wrapping Ruby up protectively in a return hug as she slowly caught her breath.

"What happened in there sis? You looked-"

"I...it was...it was nothing." Ruby started, but a awkward feeling of gratitude arose within her when this particular talk got interrupted by what was going on around them. Particularly awkward because that stuff going on wasn't really great either...​

Or they weren't good now, cool, cool cool cool cool cool cool, cool, cool.

"As much as I really don't wanna say it," she started wryly enough from where her head was shifted to rest atop Ruby's, before her voice went more somber, and soft "-I think Mom's right here, uncle qrow. This isn't like the trip in. It may have been risky, stupid even, but at least we had a plan. We don't know where they are, or if they're alive-"


"From the room we were in, for the optimal route you would have to take a left, then a right, go down past 4 halls and two doors before turning right again, cut or blast through the floor sixty meters in that direction, exit the room you arrived in, go left thirty seven meters, then left again for 127 meters to arrive at the room the other Yang Xiao Long had been resting in before we struck, assuming they have not been moved. There were two hundred and thirty seven beings of at least 99% grimm flesh within the radius on my initial scan, though it is likely that the transport itself is capable of spawning more, much like the Dragon grimm that attacked Beacon, so this number could be considered limitless for all intents and tactical purposes, at least until we have a better understanding of whether or not such creatures have a limit as to what they can create." Penny declared.

"....o....kay." Yang said with a haggard, frazzled sigh as she ruffled Ruby's hair in a silent promise to pick that up when they got back before she gently pried herself free "I didn't follow all of that, but if Penny knows where we're going then we can just follow her-"

"N-no!" Penny immediately wobbled her head, her hands clutched to her chest as she glanced down. "I... I cannot go through there. If Pyrrha Nikos is in the same room as miss Schnee when we return, there is a 0 percent chance that I am not...." She just sort of trailed off, her electronic mind drifting off in a very human fashion towards much darker memories before she shook her head again.

"Well, I mean..." Yang's face was overtaken with a frustrated wince as she fiddled with a few locks of her hair, compassion for their metal companion and a kinda total and complete lack of any sort of tactical soundness to just tossing themselves back into the fire after crawling out of it (Literally in her case, her jacket singed and her arm an angry red all the way up, to her shoulder, with a few angrier burns where her metal arm touched her stump) at war with a complete inability in her to just leave someone behind to die when there was a chance to do something.

"....Weiss knows." She eventually said. Her teeth were clenched, and her tone unsure, opting for the less aggressive and frankly more cowardly plan not sitting well with her even as she was the one who voiced it. "If... if they were going to kill them, uncle, they're.... they're probably already..........." She coughed and glanced away with a huff before she turned back. "But if they're not, our best chance for us to get them out safely is for us not to be the ones to do it."

Once Yang had disentangled herself from the embrace, Ruby nodded back but she didn't really contribute to the discussion herself yet. She near immediately resumed her beeline for the lying down Nora, kneeling down by her injured friend. That presence, and well all the yelling and general noise going on around them was enough to rouse her to a degree. Those turquoise eyes cracked open slightly, a struggled series of blinking following before her sight managed to focus enough to make out Ruby's face. At which point there was a hint of a smirk on her face. "Hey." She greeted with such a low voice it was easy to miss, but Ruby managed to hear it at least, and returned the greeting. Nora's face shifted into a wince then, the pain spiking throughout her.

Ruby's concern grew stronger but after a few moments she lifted her gaze, ready to add to this talk-​

View attachment 864037

"This was MY IDEA!"

Yang, for once, found herself on the receiving end of her words being swallowed up the bass of an explosive temper fit as Qrow turned, swung, and slugged one of the inn's wooden support beams full force, having ended up next to it after automatically following Raven halfway across the room during her spiel. He had stopped there, back and shoulders uncommonly still from the perspective of the others in the room, and none of them could see the confounded snarl or twitchy eye he leveled at the door his sister had left through until his knuckles were already hitting the wood with a sharp, splintering crack.

Then he was gone himself, a bolt of black feathers disappearing through the Nora-shaped hole in the wall, and any efforts to pursue his egress were made complicated as the doorframe leading to the darkened corridor was abruptly filled by a figure more daunting to face than Pyrrha, Ozma or anyone at that point: the innkeep. His hulking 6'8 form scrubbed his crusty eyes sleepily, clad in baggy PJs and a sleeping cap, not awake enough to fully process the extent of the damages to his common room.

View attachment 864042

"Why?"​

"..."

Her concern grew even more evident, now for her uncle too, but she didn't give chase when he took off. She just remained frozen by the ginger's side, letting out a sigh. This was all going...terribly. "It's not great, but I do think you're right, Yang. We just have to hope that Weiss can manage to...do whatever she can." Her gaze drifted off to the huge owner as he stumbled in. "Um...........we'll pay for the damages?"

​

Then he was gone himself, a bolt of black feathers disappearing through the Nora-shaped hole in the wall, and any efforts to pursue his egress were made complicated as the doorframe leading to the darkened corridor was abruptly filled by a figure more daunting to face than Pyrrha, Ozma or anyone at that point: the innkeep. His hulking 6'8 form scrubbed his crusty eyes sleepily, clad in baggy PJs and a sleeping cap, not awake enough to fully process the extent of the damages to his common room.

Raven didn't miss the tumultuous and rough explosion of anger going on behind her after she left but she didn't comment on any of it or even so much as look back. At least not until a certain point, and wherever he was going in his frustration, it become clear that he had a tail following him, with only slight amounts of effort put into being discreet about it.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Yang had kind of a thing about being ignored, but not giving her any verbal attention seemed to be the third free pass through the typical minefield that was dealing with the berserker the Hand found herself privy to in as many minutes, with no apparent end in sight. Right now she seemed more than content with sort of just hanging out of Blake the way she was, like a weighted, heated blanket around her shoulders as she continued eyeing Tiger and Ren hungrily while she addressed them, stroking calming circles around the faunus's midriff to the best of her ability with what she had to work with. The mention of her arm surprised her, as evidenced by the tiny spasm of her chest and quickening of her pulse against Blake's back that constituted a silent gasp, but there was nothing silent about the raucous snicker she burst out with a moment later as she slid her face further over her shoulder to try catch her eye again.

"Eager." She teased, meaning kept cryptic behind a wink. "Yeah, yeah, I guess I can see how everyone's quality of life goes up the more of my own fingers I have. Gotta say though, kitcat, I'm not some expert on faunus biology or anything but I'm preeeetty sure you're not rockin' a full set yourself. Can't we fix your hand first? You can just cast that same hocus pocus shit you did on me."

"Tread carefully." Ren's impassive voice interrupted them as he stepped forward, guns stowed and already moving towards Raven. He had no time for whatever this was, but the way his eyes flickered from Blake to the Dragon and back again when he slipped past them made it clear the words were a piece of advice to his fellow phlegmatic killer, not a threat.

The way Dragon wrapped her arm around Blake tighter and growled back at him made it clear she didn't give a shit.

Despite the last few minutes, her attempting to save the dragon's life in the first place, the horrific touch of the grimm and Xiao Long fighting back so hard for her in turn, the touch of their souls together, all of it... Blake hadn't forgotten who, what Yang Xiao Long was, and the Hand gave Ren a far less combative glance at his interruption than the blonde's before she answered the Dragon's question.

"I can't. Reconnecting a limb is one thing; regrowing one another. Its gone."

Her tone was calm, almost casual for what exactly they were discussing, Yang's weight to let the brawler remaining amount of arm hook over her shoulder as she started to heave towards wherever the poor severed limb had ended up. "But-

Tiger hadn't had too many chances to scuffle with Yang Xiao Long.

Either version of her for that matter. One was ostensibly an ally as far as Tiger knew. The other from this different world? Well, it hadn't been much of a fight Tiger would freely admit. It'd been one good punch that practically deactivated Tiger's semblance/caused her to vomit up her smoke in one go. Being as fighting was the only thing that Tiger took any kind of reasonable pride/satisfaction in, she would have gladly been up for a rematch at any point.

Needless to say that given the protruding bone from the flesh and overall poor looking condition? Tiger had mixed feelings.

She'd debated for a moment or two during the skirmish in Weiss's office...that when the heiress was at her feet, unconscious and unable to defend herself? All it would have taken was a quick stomp and the faunus would have had a victory to lord over for decades to come. Probably. Tiger didn't think ahead like that. She was better focused in the present. In the end, obviously, Tiger neglected to go through with it. The thought of fighting someone you know couldn't beat you without encouraging them to get stronger(Hazel)or when they weren't at their physical best let alone able to defend themselves? It didn't sit quite right with her. It was why she hadn't assisted in butchering Winter. Her hands still carried the blood....but if she'd felt any kind of need to take solace for what had transpired in that cell it'd bloom from her not having done the actual deed.

....But if one was willing to fight despite it all? It'd be rude of Tiger to decline based on her own beliefs.

She took a step forward.-


"....Blake."

Tiger paused in her stride.

Wasn't too much of a surprise. Once she'd learned that Tiger hadn't left with the others? Something like that was bound to crop up sooner or later. The gaze wasn't met with any major reaction. Just those same red eyes staring straight ahead. Which the woman who wore the moniker of 'Tiger' felt was her lot in life. Looking straight ahead without too many secondary thoughts. But it'd been through her time with the Hand and the various fights she'd got into as of late from chasing down that masked man who could expel fog from his body and fighting that diminutive woman with the hammer. All choices that Tiger had deliberately made. All because she'd felt inspired.

That same inspiration had got her to choose to stay behind.

To see what else she could get herself into.

'She probably wouldn't accept that as an explanation. Definitely won't once I tell her.' Tiger thought to herself.

All while her expression never changed on the outside.

"As you say, Hand."




Tiger nodded and moved past the two with not even a glance thrown Dragon's way.

The faunus fought because she enjoyed it. Getting angry and fighting....soured the whole thing. Much like not getting an instant killshot when one went hunting. Letting the animal tense up soils the meat and ruins the experience. Dealing with anything that wasn't outright enjoyment of the visceral feeling of making you and your opponent bleed took away from the fighting for Tiger.

As she approached Masque's fallen form, Tiger looked her over from top to bottom. It'd looked as though she'd been through the wringer. An experience that Tiger was all too familiar with. "Time to go." She murmured as she moved to reach down and grab Masque's shirt collar.

....But then she froze.

Her ears stood up and twitched and her hand stopped inches away from Masque.

All anyone else might have seen was Masque's empty sleeve rustle.

But both Blake and Tiger heard it for sure. Tiger....just wasn't sure what it'd been.

'It sounded like...like a beast. A low rumble from a predator warning you away from it's territory. A statement: you're making a mistake.'

...For once in her life it seemed as though something had caused Tiger's usually passive expression to break. Her left eyebrow arched in befuddlement and her hand hadn't moved any closer. Her face masked by her hair and her head turned away from Tiger, the faunus didn't notice the feral girl's face scrunching up.
​

It only took the first growl for Blake to suddenly tense up, her ears flicking towards the noise, the calm in her eyes suffocating under a sudden wave of aggression as her grip tightened and her voice came out in a curt growl.

"Tiger-"

Masque's eyes flickered open and her head snapped towards Tiger catching the faunus off guard. From the look of things, Tiger hadn't expected her to be able to move: let alone wake up! Masque's face was marked with a trail of crimson blood that split halfway down her face and dripped down her chin. Her chest heaved and before any words could escape from Tiger's lips, Masque lashed out with a wild snarl.

*SHUNK*

If you were to run this scenario over a dozen times, 99% of the time this would never have happened.

This was the 1% where it did.

The blood spilled down Tiger's forearm as Masque clung from it, her nostrils flaring rapidly as though she were a lion with a prey's throat in her mouth. Her teeth piercing through Tiger's left arm, staining the faunus's arm with the brightly lit liquid. Her arm hung at her side the holes that Blake's boots had pierced through it still bleeding. If one looked close enough it'd appear that in the heat of the moment that Masque had bit down with such force that she'd actually managed to crack a tooth. A small trail started to ooze down her bottom lip and straight down her chin. The bandit's eyes weren't focused on the woman she'd just bitten like a wild animal, however. They were looking past her to the one that had left Masque in such a state. The one that her sister was currently clinging to.

Blake.

Masque's nostrils flared like a beast getting out it's aggression. Her arm twitched and her wrist slowly started to raise itself. Her fingers pointed outwards in Blake's direction. As though she wished she could just reach out and grab the faunus from where she was. All while her teeth were still sunk into Tiger's flesh. "Grrrr....ghhhhh....hghhh....." Masque snarled between blood sloshing over her teeth. Tiger for her part hadn't cried out in pain at all. In fact she didn't seem too perturbed at all by what had transpired. If her next words meant anything it seemed as though she'd welcomed it, unexpected as it may have been.

"I have...no doubts...This'll not be the only pain I feel today....So...I let it be..."

She started to bring her arm inwards, dragging Masque's knees across the floor. Earning a snarl and growl from her in the process.

".....You're running on pure adrenaline. That's all. I doubt....you're even fully cognizant..."

"Grrrrrr......"

Tiger balled her other hand up into a fist.

"....If this is the worst pain I'll experience today...? I should count myself...."

She swung out...

"Lucky."

From the briefest of glances it'd seem as though Tiger had struck with not just enough force to dislodge Masque but to break her jaw entirely. Appearances could certainly be deceiving however and as Masque crumpled to the floor, her left eye closing upon the great impact it'd just been dealt, it soon became clear that at least four teeth had been knocked loose by Tiger's punch. Where were they exactly? Well, take a closer look at Tiger's arm wounds and piece it together for yourself. Whether she knew it herself, so wrapped up in her primal anger, she'd held down on Tiger's forearm so tightly that when the force behind Tiger's blow came into the mix, it'd ripped four of her teeth straight out of her mouth and left them lodged in the arm. As Masque squirmed and coughed, her eyes resumed their focus on Blake. The one who'd been mere seconds away from blowing her brains out all over this floor. The one who'd stopped her was her sister. The same woman that Blake had so close to her.

'Look at her, Ruby. She's hurt us.....In more ways than one! It's one thing to threaten us...but she's taken our sister! OURS!!!!!'

Masque coughed and hissed as she tried pushing herself up. Even the arrival of Tiger's shadow looming overhead didn't break her gaze.

Tiger saw the state Masque's body was in and frowned. It was clear from body language alone that this young girl had no intentions of giving up or coming peacefully to be contained. In any other case Tiger would have begrudgingly knocked them out and did what needed to be done. ....Here, it felt as though she were putting down a rabid animal. One that wasn't even paying her any mind. ...It was almost a more disturbing feeling than whatever she'd heard making that noise just moments ago. "I think...I've indulged your determination...quite enough..."

*THWACK*

The punch hit Masque full on in the side of the head. She crumpled to the ground again and weakly coughed. The one eye that hadn't closed continued to stare down Blake but her body made no more efforts to move. Ignoring the deep bitemarks that Masque had left on her for the time being, Tiger grabbed Masque by the back of her shirt and hoisted her off her feet. It was only then did Masque 'come to life' again. Her head and neck thrashing in Tiger's grip.

"GRRRRRR!!! RRRRRRRRAAAAAGHH!!!!!!! RRRRRRRRAHHHHHHHH!!!!!"


She got further and further away.....until...


"BLAKE!!!!!!!"

.....Then she got too far to hear.

...Apparently the talon had it in hand. Blake's grip had tightened across Yang as the other faunus dragged Masque out, though whether it was protectively for her or to keep her from interfering was hard to say, her eyes like two amber stones as they tracked the two killers of very different breeds across the room until they were out of sight.

When they were finally gone, and if the dragon hadn't snapped out of her grip, Blake let out of quiet breath and trudged the rest of the way to the limb, her own tiredness beginning to show as she she didn't so much let the dragon down as just let her knees give out so they both landed next to it in a heap, Blake managing to stay on her knees as she gripped the severed appendage like it was a dead fish, studying it for a moment before she motioned for Yang to hold up her stump so she could press the arm to it.

....

She let out a frustated snarl after almost a minute of silence, before she hung her head.

"....Grip me with your other arm." She finally said, her voice filled with a far more obvious forced calm than her usual steel

 

[Gus Gungus]

Despite the last few minutes, her attempting to save the dragon's life in the first place, the horrific touch of the grimm and Xiao Long fighting back so hard for her in turn, the touch of their souls together, all of it... Blake hadn't forgotten who, what Yang Xiao Long was, and the Hand gave Ren a far less combative glance at his interruption than the blonde's before she answered the Dragon's question.

"I can't. Reconnecting a limb is one thing; regrowing one another. Its gone."

"..." It was little more than a subtle, ephemeral change, but Blake felt the injured arm around her torso squeeze it just that bit tighter against the one behind it as Dragon let her jaw settle between the faunus's shoulder and the nape of her neck. She gave what could best be described as a deep, doting, mournful groan into her, the vibrations down her spine working in tandem with the ones from the sympathetic shiver Yang gave, serving as an attempt at consolation and comfort rooted far more in the physical realm than the verbal one; When she did speak, faint and barely perceptible from her position, her voice was the consistency of butter.

"So brave. Guess I'm just gonna have to take extra special care of the rest of ya."

"Lucky."

From the briefest of glances it'd seem as though Tiger had struck with not just enough force to dislodge Masque but to break her jaw entirely. Appearances could certainly be deceiving however and as Masque crumpled to the floor, her left eye closing upon the great impact it'd just been dealt, it soon became clear that at least four teeth had been knocked loose by Tiger's punch. Where were they exactly? Well, take a closer look at Tiger's arm wounds and piece it together for yourself. Whether she knew it herself, so wrapped up in her primal anger, she'd held down on Tiger's forearm so tightly that when the force behind Tiger's blow came into the mix, it'd ripped four of her teeth straight out of her mouth and left them lodged in the arm. As Masque squirmed and coughed, her eyes resumed their focus on Blake. The one who'd been mere seconds away from blowing her brains out all over this floor. The one who'd stopped her was her sister. The same woman that Blake had so close to her.

'Look at her, Ruby. She's hurt us.....In more ways than one! It's one thing to threaten us...but she's taken our sister! OURS!!!!!'

Masque coughed and hissed as she tried pushing herself up. Even the arrival of Tiger's shadow looming overhead didn't break her gaze.

Tiger saw the state Masque's body was in and frowned. It was clear from body language alone that this young girl had no intentions of giving up or coming peacefully to be contained. In any other case Tiger would have begrudgingly knocked them out and did what needed to be done. ....Here, it felt as though she were putting down a rabid animal. One that wasn't even paying her any mind. ...It was almost a more disturbing feeling than whatever she'd heard making that noise just moments ago. "I think...I've indulged your determination...quite enough..."

*THWACK*

The punch hit Masque full on in the side of the head. She crumpled to the ground again and weakly coughed. The one eye that hadn't closed continued to stare down Blake but her body made no more efforts to move. Ignoring the deep bitemarks that Masque had left on her for the time being, Tiger grabbed Masque by the back of her shirt and hoisted her off her feet. It was only then did Masque 'come to life' again. Her head and neck thrashing in Tiger's grip.

"GRRRRRR!!! RRRRRRRRAAAAAGHH!!!!!!! RRRRRRRRAHHHHHHHH!!!!!"


She got further and further away.....until...


"BLAKE!!!!!!!"

.....Then she got too far to hear.

...Apparently the talon had it in hand. Blake's grip had tightened across Yang as the other faunus dragged Masque out, though whether it was protectively for her or to keep her from interfering was hard to say, her eyes like two amber stones as they tracked the two killers of very different breeds across the room until they were out of sight.

When they were finally gone, and if the dragon hadn't snapped out of her grip, Blake let out of quiet breath and trudged the rest of the way to the limb, her own tiredness beginning to show as she she didn't so much let the dragon down as just let her knees give out so they both landed next to it in a heap, Blake managing to stay on her knees as she gripped the severed appendage like it was a dead fish, studying it for a moment before she motioned for Yang to hold up her stump so she could press the arm to it.

Masque's abruptly violent, foaming, feral awakening and Tiger's subsequent rough handling did spark a reaction in Yang, if not the one Blake may have anticipated. The difference didn't register on her face, and would've been nigh impossible to intuit had the Hand not been at the proximity she was with the knowledge of human anatomy she had, but the way the muscles against her tensed up, breath quietly hitching in the solar plexus as the rhythm of her heartbeat skipped ahead erratically, had more in common with a spooked horse than anything predatory. The fury it pulled to the surface was nearly the polar opposite of the polished, disciplined, vengeful rage Blake had taken into her heart; rather, this was the kind of terrible, white-hot, directionless rage one had thrust upon them, born of trauma and instinct, a spike of panic and adrenaline weaponized and given shape as an explosive force of nature. Many was the night Eve had woken up from the depths of a nightmare in such a state, blindly grabbing for something sharp. The grimm arm made its first noise since receding, a low, unearthly gurgle that tapered out into a growl as it fed.

Thankfully, on this particular occasion the yield was less an explosion and more a fizzle. The last embers of Dragon's semblance had long since snuffed out at this stage, the remainder of the power she'd stored burned through by her Grimm occupier, its final sparks spent during her brief shoving match with Tiger. From the way she snarled and tried to wriggle off Blake it didn't show, but it also meant it was only a token effort for the faunus to quell any such attempts, and there seemed an atypical reluctance in the berserk brawler to meet any of the smaller woman's touches with anything greater than the amount of force one might exert when holding a bonafide newborn palm-of-your-hand kitten. Her remaining strength was sufficient only to tire herself out, and it wasn't clear whether the shallowness of the breathing against Blake's shoulders was from exertion or something else as she slumped forward against her when she dropped, whatever knot was in her diaphragm only loosening when Masque's shrieking faded to little more than an echo. She kept herself propped up against the Hand while she worked, generally staying quiet and going along with her direction as she studied her with eyes that seemed a bit rounder than usual, and only after a minute of Blake toiling in silence did she breach it. "Hey—"

She let out a frustated snarl after almost a minute of silence, before she hung her head.

"....Grip me with your other arm." She finally said, her voice filled with a far more obvious forced calm than her usual steel

By some unfathomable cosmic coincidence, this proved to be the exact moment Blake opened her mouth herself, and the specifics of the words that emerged had Dragon's eyes fly open for a moment before she covered it with a flutter of lashes.

"Whaaaaat? I for real thought it was doing something that whole time. Weird. Nyeh, well, fuck that, don't worry about it. Hey, hey, pause a sec—" She pushed on with her own thought without sparing so much as a second for her own severed arm, it appeared, sliding off to sit up a bit too quickly for someone in her condition and subject the faunus to another disconcertingly warm and earnest set of eyes and pearly whites. There was something eager and shockingly earnest to the way the words came rushing from her lips in a jumble, the confusing and terrifying maelstrom of violence and emotions that had been a few minutes prior having somehow metamorphosed into a chirpy excitement and casual tone that were in equal parts bizarre and genuine.



"So, I get you gotta work this whole 'nail me to a cross' angle during work hours for all the suffering orphans back home—and, kitty, lemme just say you work that motherfucker to the bone—" She gave an appreciatively confident hair toss for good measure, Grimm digits raking through her golden curls like shark fins through water. "—but you DO know you can just be you around me, yeah? Look, humans, Grimm, even your ol' pals from the furry civil rights movement; long as I'm around I promise no one else is gonna hurt you. So you could always let your hair down a little, you know, not be such a stiff."

What started as a playful swipe at the arm became an awkward and kind of painful semi elbow bump, and Yang gave a vaguely disgruntled roll of the eyes as her own words caught up to her, .

"Sorry, sorry, this is super fucking pathetic and image ruining, I know. I'm just stoked to finally get to know the real you!"​

 

[MidwayLives]

...Apparently the talon had it in hand. Blake's grip had tightened across Yang as the other faunus dragged Masque out, though whether it was protectively for her or to keep her from interfering was hard to say, her eyes like two amber stones as they tracked the two killers of very different breeds across the room until they were out of sight.

If it wasn't clear from the fact that it'd been forced shut due to Tiger's punches, the entire side of Masque's left eye seemed bruised and swollen. But even her many grievous injuries didn't stop her from growling and screaming in Blake's general direction. In her fractured psyche, Masque knew that from the moment she'd tried changing her ways that Blake and her would be enemies the next time they met on the battlefield. That was a certainty. But as with not wanting to see the Yang she'd grown up with and had been unconditionally loved by for most of their childhood die/she just couldn't ever see herself wanting to actually go beyond just fighting Blake. The two might not have talked much(truthfully, Masque couldn't recall any conversations that they might have had. Nobody but Yang and Maria ever seemed to make time for her. Even if most of her time with Yang was spent getting insulted/beaten up, at least someone was paying attention to her.)but Masque didn't want to kill someone she'd fought alongside. It just didn't feel right to her. Chalk it up to attachment issues or her childish 'we should all be friends and be happy' dream. Or the aspirations of a insane woman.

Which made it hurt even more as she screamed Blake's name amid a mouth full of blood.

"BLAKE!!!!!!!!!!!"

Her screams echoed and wailed across the walls until Tiger had dragged her far enough that it simply wasn't heard anymore.

The faunus hadn't paid the wound on her arm any mind. She'd taken worse. It'd heal in time.

"BLAKE!!!!! *cough* B-BLAKE!!!!!! *cough cough cough*" Masque screeched even as she continued to thrash in Tiger's grip. But no matter how much she pulled this way or that way, she wasn't escaping the faunus's grip.

"You're going to scream yourself hoarse." Tiger warned. The only thing she'd said to Masque since she'd started dragging her off.

As Masque seemed to not even acknowledge her, Tiger looked down at the absolute mess of a woman in her hand.

'...The way she screams. The way she thrashes around. It's less like I'm carrying a prisoner of the other side....No, it feels more like I'm carrying a snarling wolf that got itself struck by a hunter. Snarling and focusing all of it's anger on the one that hurt it so. Everything else was absolutely secondary. The one who'd inflicted this great pain was in front of it. It needed to show it wouldn't stand by and accept this. Her ears are working of that I'm sure. She heard me but I doubt she 'heard' me. I may as well just be background noise. She doesn't care if she's on her last legs. She'll do what she feels she has to.'

As Masque continued to wail even as it left her in a terrible coughing fit, Tiger debated striking her once more. Her free hand raised up and she prepared to strike. But as she moved to lash out and simply punch Masque into unconsciousness, her fist froze inches away from the back of Masque's head. Tiger sighed.

'It's not too often that something like this has happened. Or generally happens at all. But....I just cannot bring myself to lay another blow upon you. At least not while you're like this. It'd feel the same as hurting an animal. All they understand is the pain that's been dealt to them. Emotions don't factor into it. Your body is a mess. But yet you continue to struggle.' From Dragon threatening to stand off with her bone poking out of what remained of her arm and now Masque screaming her lungs out, Tiger could say one thing for certain. 'Your sibling and you move forward despite whatever bodily harm comes your way. As someone who's torn their body apart too many times to count, I can relate. I even admire that willingness to mangle yourself. But..."

Tiger's grip didn't loosen. Reaching into her wound, Tiger pulled out each of the teeth that'd been left embedded in her skin.

"Admiration is all you'll get from me I'm afraid.. I am....sorry."

Tiger's ears twitched. The screaming had stopped....Why-

*sniffle*

Masque stopped struggling in Tiger's grasp and weakly wiped at the blood running down from her mouth.

Her eyes were cloudy and glistening with fresh tears.

"Yang....."

Yang was HER sister. The one who'd always be there for her. No matter what they fought about. Whether it was just exchanging insults or Masque making her advances on her older sister and just...unaware or unable to accept/understand why they weren't reciprocated in the same way. Even when she'd ran away to stay with Weiss, the two were never apart for long. It'd been that way since they were kids. Yang always made time for Ruby and always took whatever bullying or taunting Ruby had planned that day as the two got older. As more time passed, the idea that Yang had been right all along seemed to make more and more sense. They were all the other had in this messed up world. They NEEDED to stick together through thick and through thin.

Masque had let Weiss down. The others didn't trust her.

Yang was all she had left.

....And Masque had left her at every opportunity.



​

Watching the two go as she walked over to retrieve her sword, the hate building up in her was enormous.

Not for her Yang. Even after everything the two had been through together, Ruby genuinely loved her still.

No, what she hated was that thing living inside her.

Corrupting her and making her even more of a mess than she was before.

'I can't quite understand it myself. But right now Yang had a perfectly good chance to just snap my neck, take my keycard, and be done with it. She could make up whatever excuse she wanted to Ozpin as to how I actually died. Then I'd probably be written off just like that.' It was a depressing thought but it wasn't what alarmed her. 'From the motel to her, Yang has had plenty of chances to hurt me and she always let me off easy....'

Was it a shred of love still buried deep down? Despite the abuse she'd been given over the years?

....

Perhaps that was too optimistic.

"Yang! Wait!"

"If it's who I think it is...I think she's quit his dream....She'll probably kill us too."

The Masque grinned.

"I think I'll pay her a visit...But, Yang? Before I go, you cry..."

....Despite all that, Yang had still stopped Blake from killing her. She'd saved her even in the state she was in.

Masque hated fighting her sister.

The ways she'd shown it over the years had been wrong and the urges had never left her. If anything they'd only gotten harder to suppress. But regardless of the blows-both physical and emotionally that they'd left on eachother Masque never hated her sister. She loved her with all her heart. In a way that Yang never could return. Something that broke Masque's heart. But...she'd bear it if it meant her sister would be happy. The two of them both deserved to be happy. Anyone who got in the way of that happiness deserved whatever they had coming to them. "I came back for..." Masque mumbled.

"...Came back for what?" Tiger asked, curious.

"My sister."

Then Masque went still and cried in silence apart from the occasional sniffle. The struggling had ceased and Tiger's curiosity was saited.

'These two sisters...what an interesting duo.'

Knowing fulll well she'd have her own consequences to face, Tiger hadn't been lying when she'd said she'd admired Masque and Dragon. Tiger for the longest time had done only what had been asked of/expected of her. That hadn't changed even after joining the Talons. But now she'd been making her own choices and she felt....better for it.

'...Admiration. It's a beautiful thing.'​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

By some unfathomable cosmic coincidence, this proved to be the exact moment Blake opened her mouth herself, and the specifics of the words that emerged had Dragon's eyes fly open for a moment before she covered it with a flutter of lashes.

"What? Oh well. Nyeh, fuck that, don't worry about it. Hey, hey, look, pause a sec—" She pushed on with her own thought without sparing so much as a second for her own severed arm, it appeared, sliding off to sit up a bit too quickly for someone in her condition and subject the faunus to another disconcertingly warm and earnest set of eyes and pearly whites. There was something eager and shockingly earnest to the way the words came rushing from her lips in a bubbly chirp, the confusing and terrifying maelstrom of violence and emotions that had been a few minutes prior somehow crystallizing into a chirpy excitement and casual tone that were in equal parts bizarre and genuine.

"So, I get you gotta work this whole 'nail me to a cross' angle during work hours for all the suffering orphans back home—and, kitty, lemme just say you work that mother to the bone—" She gave a confident hair toss for good measure, Grimm digits raking through her locks like shark fins through water. "—but you DO know you can just be you around me, yeah? Listen, human, Grimm, even your ol' pals from the furry civil rights movement, long as I'm around I promise no one else is gonna hurt you. So you could always let your hair down a lil."

What started as a playful swipe at the arm became an awkward and kind of painful semi elbow bump, and Yang gave a vaguely disgruntled roll of the eyes as her own words caught up to her.

"Sorry, sorry, this is super fucking pathetic and image ruining, I know. Guess I'm just stoked to finally get to know the real you!"

Blake's ears pinned back and her eyes widened as Yang suddenly sat up and looked at her like that, her own mouth set into a flummoxed frown. She was still trying to figure out just... what this was, how to make sense of what she'd seen, still far too emotionally raw to trust her own judgement, her dire growls and deadly glare towards masque's brief rebellion both a different sort of beasts to the cold flames of righteousness she normally carried in those eyes.

"That- Whatever you saw was only a part of me." She said, her own eyes breaking out of the gaze first. "A part that should be gone by now. These, that-" She gestured across the scars across her form through the tatters of what was left of her clothes after the warehouse, Atlas academy, and being used as an impromptu bandage source, and then towards where her mask was resting a a short distance away "-They're me too. They're more me than whatever... I'm not who you saw, those- I don't need a protector." she finished with a harried frown.

She was the one who did the protecting. The body she was guiding was just a tool for the kill, for the fight, for those who needed her, no different than her weapons or aura.

So why should her mind or soul be any different?

"So please just-" her breath hitched, and her ears pressed even flatter against her skull as she covered the aborted sob with her own stump in horrified shame. It was different than the tears that had fallen when Eve died; those flowed freely. They were righteous. It was only natural for The Hand to grieve a fallen warrior who gave so much, and thus Blake Belladonna could indulge too. But these weren't for her, or anyone else- Without the quench of blood to harden her molten heart back to where it was supposed to be, with how much Yang saw, how soft those eyes that were normally so vicious were looking at her, their color edging farther and farther from bloody red every moment, she'd let it slip; the tiniest bit of self pity, of acknowledging that she even had reason for her own sadness, at just how dismal her last thought had been.

She soldiered through it like she did everything else, so true was her forging

"So help me fix your stupid arm and we can move on from this"

 

[Gus Gungus]

Blake's ears pinned back and her eyes widened as Yang suddenly sat up and looked at her like that, her own mouth set into a flummoxed frown. She was still trying to figure out just... what this was, how to make sense of what she'd seen, still far too emotionally raw to trust her own judgement, her dire growls and deadly glare towards masque's brief rebellion both a different sort of beasts to the cold flames of righteousness she normally carried in those eyes.

"That- Whatever you saw was only a part of me." She said, her own eyes breaking out of the gaze first. "A part that should be gone by now. These, that-" She gestured across the scars across her form through the tatters of what was left of her clothes after the warehouse, Atlas academy, and being used as an impromptu bandage source, and then towards where her mask was resting a a short distance away "-They're me too. They're more me than whatever... I'm not who you saw, those- I don't need a protector." she finished with a harried frown.

She was the one who did the protecting. The body she was guiding was just a tool for the kill, for the fight, for those who needed her, no different than her weapons or aura.

So why should her mind or soul be any different?

"So please just-" her breath hitched, and her ears pressed even flatter against her skull as she covered the aborted sob with her own stump in horrified shame. It was different than the tears that had fallen when Eve died; those flowed freely. They were righteous. It was only natural for The Hand to grieve a fallen warrior who gave so much, and thus Blake Belladonna could indulge too. But these weren't for her, or anyone else- Without the quench of blood to harden her molten heart back to where it was supposed to be, with how much Yang saw, how soft those eyes that were normally so vicious were looking at her, their color edging farther and farther from bloody red every moment, she'd let it slip; the tiniest bit of self pity, of acknowledging that she even had reason for her own sadness, at just how dismal her last thought had been.

She soldiered through it like she did everything else, so true was her forging

"So help me fix your stupid arm and we can move on from this"

As desperate, harrowing, and strangely intimate as what they'd just been through had been, it was a truth worth noting that on a fundamental level Blake and Yang were two very different beasts. There were certainly similarities, strong, yearning veins in their poor wayward souls that had reached out and found each other like hands grasping blindly in the darkness; both were furious at the vileness and hypocrisy of the world around them, and both had once been compassionate hearts mercilessly ripped apart by the wolves. But the Dragon had been born in the depths of despair, her forging one of simple human cruelty and neglect, and while Sienna had used Blake's wrath to coax and whip her into a crystallized purpose Yang's had been left to fester inside her until the day it was set loose upon the world by Ozpin. Her formative experiences had taught her the world was a place where might made right, where the weak suffered at the hands of the strong until they either died or became strong themselves and that was just the way of things.

Of course everything that had happened to that miserable, pathetic, disgusting little runt in pigtails shivering in the corner of the Tribe's camp on any given night had happened. Of course no one loved her, no one wanted her, no one ever came back for her. She was asking for it. Not literally asking to suffer, the way kitty had; she was asking for it by being born that way. By wanting love. By wanting affection. By not getting with the program uncle Qrow's merry men had been cramming down her throat ever since she was a kid, that those concepts were just stories the kingdoms made up to sell movie tickets. On the night she'd finally been beaten down past her limit Yang threw herself headlong into embracing that philosophy, her new worldview tempered only by the harsh edge of vindictive irony as she strove to spit in the face of everything polite society found happy and wholesome and hopeful and tender and kind. All the things she'd wanted so bad and been denied.

She was a reckoning. A natural disaster given form, a storm of the world's own making. She didn't think, she just acted. She did what felt right, and it just happened that most of the time what felt right was violence. Dragon was just as rattled as Blake, but she wasn't questioning this the way the Hand was, wasn't shying away from this long, strange, horrible moment of warmth the two of them were having. It showed in the wild excitement in her eyes, a sort of genuine life and spark Blake couldn't recall in either iteration of Ozpin's enforcer she was familiar with. She was leaning into it. Her soul was reaching out, trying to grab on to as much of that warmth as it could before it passed out of reach, exposing itself as a hypocrite in the process and not caring.



That and the 'act, don't think' philosophy may have had something to do with her next actions. Alert scarlet eyes and a steady, attentive frown were all she met Blake's rebuttal with, eyes that clearly weren't as concerned with offering any judgment, pushback or advice as they were with making it clear to the Hand that someone was here for her, listening and understanding and wanting to do anything they could to make it right. That made it all the more surprising when Dragon came back in a voice with every bit as much of an emphatic, vehement edge as Blake's had carried before, as unwavering as the gaze on the faunus she wouldn't release.

"You're wrong."

Spoiler

When Blake made that noise into her wrist was when Yang cut her off, and she felt arms around her pull her into a familiar warmth with a far more forceful embrace than before, guiding Blake's head to rest on her chest and collar this time. Whatever wave of sudden motivation the stifled sob had garnered appeared to have converted into straight energy, Yang somehow finding the strength to sit up on her haunches and take the weight of the embrace as she tried to encourage Blake to lean against her.

"I wasn't just there, I could feel it. I felt everything you were feeling. You're so strong, kitten. So brave." The words were little more than a soft, soothing murmur, delivered almost directly into the cat ears Yang's jaw was tucked against. "But it's fucked up. Look at you. Look what they did. Why should this be your story? It's not fair. You should have so much more. You deserved so much better."

It had probably dawned on Blake by this point that the Dragon only had one hand, and the set of fingers softly threading and kneading through her hair were of a very specific nature. She felt them shudder lightly against her roots as Yang ensconced her, but the sensation that ensued was different this time as the pain and sorrow gripping Blake started to slough off her. More... gradual.

"That's all I want, okay? Not to be your fucking... white knight or whatever. Just to help. Anything I can do, whenever and however you want me, I'm all yours. Yes, anything." Her voice injected a wry edge, its pitch, breath, and the way Yang's chest vibrated with it all combining into a caress as potent as anything she was doing physically. "I j-just... want... you... to feel good. B-because even the Hand... needs a hand... every once in a while... heh... three layers of joke..."

She shuddered, and Blake had a moment to contemplate why ostensibly the same emotion sapping effect that had been such a horrible, violating process a few short minutes ago appeared so tame this time in comparison. The grimm's influence was growing, but Yang still retained dominant control over their shared form; a measure of control that extended even to its own black, corrupted flesh. This time the predator inside was suppressed by the one holding her, and though its drain lapped at the edges of her soul she didn't feel as if she was being fed on like the contents of a pig trough—it was more like her darker emotions were rising off her like waves of steam, disappearing into Yang to be held for safekeeping as Blake was introduced to a sense of warm, numbing serenity by inches rather than being stripped bare and exposed by an uncaring hunger.

This apparently wasn't an enjoyable process for Dragon whatsoever, and more than just the strain of exertion in her voice as she fought to keep the monstrosity in her arm from tearing into Blake with impunity again there was a strain of emotion, of sadness and deep, simmering rage. It begged the question of just where a majority of the negativity being siphoned off her was ending up that Yang's muscles were seizing up with panic and distress again, and her heart had started to pound by the time Blake felt moisture trickling against her that only could've come from the berserker's eyes, using the other woman as a physical anchor to keep her focus as she screwed her eyes shut and forced out a hoarse, strangled whimper through clenched teeth.

"...Hurry..."​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Raven didn't miss the tumultuous and rough explosion of anger going on behind her after she left but she didn't comment on any of it or even so much as look back. At least not until a certain point, and wherever he was going in his frustration, it become clear that he had a tail following him, with only slight amounts of effort put into being discreet about it.

Tourists dropped and picked up tails like bad habits in this kingdom, and acknowledging any that weren't likely to satisfy his sudden craving for violence seemed to be the last thing on Qrow's mind. The stance Raven rounded the corner to find him in eight streets, two crosswalks and three back-alleys later was a reluctantly confrontational one, but his eyes brimmed with warding anger as he glared at her blocked the alley with hands in pockets.



"No, get it straight, this ain't one of our jaw sessions. This is just one of those times you either do the right thing or buzz off like you do best. This must be a real relief for ya, huh? Getting to just write off the you who actually gave a damn about something in her life before it was convenient for her to? Tch. Bet you're just beside yourself with grief."​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Tourists dropped and picked up tails like bad habits in this kingdom, and acknowledging any that weren't likely to satisfy his sudden craving for violence seemed to be the last thing on Qrow's mind. The stance Raven rounded the corner to find him in eight streets, two crosswalks and three back-alleys later was a reluctantly confrontational one, but his eyes brimmed with warding anger as he glared at her blocked the alley with hands in pockets.

View attachment 865892

"No, get it straight, this ain't one of our jaw sessions. This is just one of those times you either do the right thing or buzz off like you do best. This must be a real relief for ya, huh? Getting to just write off the you who actually gave a damn about something in her life before it was convenient for her to? Tch. Bet you're just beside yourself with grief."​

Though Qrow was reluctantly confrontational, Raven was a bit more open about it...if the light shoving she gave him was any indication. Just enough to push him back a few feet. “No, you get it straight! I did do the right thing, little brother. In case you didn’t notice, I’m keeping you from failing and getting yourself killed!” She growled back, glaring directly into his eyes for a couple seconds before continuing. “If that means you’re pissed off, fine. Notch another reason to be mad at me on the list, but at least you’re alive to do it.” She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall.

“Can’t say I’m too fond of a me that makes me look...well, you know. But no. No, it isn’t a relief. Whether you actually believe me on that or not, it’s up to you. But you’re a priority to me, little brother. So deal with it!”​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Though Qrow was reluctantly confrontational, Raven was a bit more open about it...if the light shoving she gave him was any indication. Just enough to push him back a few feet. “No, you get it straight! I did do the right thing, little brother. In case you didn’t notice, I’m keeping you from failing and getting yourself killed!” She growled back, glaring directly into his eyes for a couple seconds before continuing. “If that means you’re pissed off, fine. Notch another reason to be mad at me on the list, but at least you’re alive to do it.” She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall.

“Can’t say I’m too fond of a me that makes me look...well, you know. But no. No, it isn’t a relief. Whether you actually believe me on that or not, it’s up to you. But you’re a priority to me, little brother. So deal with it!”

Qrow had been shoved by this lady and her daughter tonight and he was way past the limits of what could be considered 'sick of it', so Raven's weight was hardly settled against the wall when she felt Harbinger's curved tip hook around her ankles and the huntsman yank her ankles out from under her in an outstanding display of petty sibling aggression. His reluctance had been shoved away too. He stowed the weapon as swiftly as it had come out, stepping forward to scowl down at her.

"Well I guess you'll just have to forgive me if I don't have all that much faith in Raven Branwen's ability to tell the 'right thing' from the COWARDLY ONE! Isn't screwing up which one is which kinda your whole deal?!"

​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Qrow had been shoved by this lady and her daughter tonight and he was way past the limits of what could be considered 'sick of it', so Raven's weight was hardly settled against the wall when she felt Harbinger's curved tip hook around her ankles and the huntsman yank her ankles out from under her in an outstanding display of petty sibling aggression. His reluctance had been shoved away too. He stowed the weapon as swiftly as it had come out, stepping forward to scowl down at her.

"Well I guess you'll just have to forgive me if I don't have all that much faith in Raven Branwen's ability to tell the 'right thing' from the COWARDLY ONE! Isn't screwing up which one is which kinda your whole deal?!"

​

She made no move to resist or even get back up after she fell, just lying there staring up at him. There was no immediate answer and she felt the strong urge to look away in shame, but she didn't. She kept her eyes locked on his the whole time. After a brief silence came: "You're right. Is that what you want to hear? YOU'RE RIGHT!" Raven took a deep breath and continued more softly. "I'm sure you've thought about this at some point or another, but the day when Summer..." She bit her lip. "I could have been there. I should have been there! If I had been, maybe it would have turned out differently. If I had just tried, but I didn't. I was cowardly. Cruel. I let her..." At that, Raven succumbed to the urge and looked away in shame, momentarily glimpsed in her mismatched eyes before she shut them. When she swung her gaze back towards Qrow and opened them again, the look had disappeared.

"Now she's gone, and I have to live with that. For the rest of my life, it'll haunt me. The question of if she would still be here if I had just...been a good teammate. And yes, I deserve to let that question tear me apart inside, thinking about it at least once every day for however much longer I've got." She shook her head slightly. "And...I don't think I could live with myself if I let it happen again." She pushed herself up to a seated position but didn't stand, content to just sit there for a short time. "So be frustrated with me if you want, be pissed off or hate me or whatever you have to feel to make this feel tolerable, but I know I did the right thing. You'd have been stumbling around blind in there, even with Penny's ridiculous directions, and they'd be on high alert now. Plus, even when we had the element of surprise...Valkyrie and the even smaller one came back unconscious. Yang came back burned and hurt. Masque and the other me never came back at all. You, alone..."

Raven shook her head again. "I did the right thing, little brother."​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Watts grunted as he was suddenly headlocked, one hand slapping down at Mercury's legs with an irate "Let go of me-mmph!" that was muffled by the end of it. He shoved himself off Mercury as after he was released, a irritated glare shot at the kickboxer that was weirdly accompanied by a smirk as he fluffed out his jacket and straightened out his sleeves as he waited a bit for Cinder to catch up.


"Of a sort" he answered, apparently not intending to elaborate much past that. "And I think it was less an issue of speed and more an issue of us not losing them in the shadows. But I don't think that should be a problem." he said as he raised his hand, now short one of their usual rings, and snapped his fingers. Somewhere in the shadowy alleyway, Merc's legs suddenly snapped together mid step with the hum of a magnet coming to life, and Watts strode confidently past his fallen fellow in former leader of friends, an absolutely petty grin on his face as his hand extending outand his rings lit up. The hum shifted before the ring snapped back up to his hands, freeing their compatriot's legs.

"Try to keep your footing, Mercury, I've been told these are dangerous streets"

"Heh. Good one." Cinder remarked. She stifled chuckling but that didn't stop the small smile from emerging. That, this right here, was one of the things she missed most about Beacon. Not the big, world changing stuff, or training to hunt down the monsters that infest the kingdoms, or reading through textbooks and prepping for tests...but the quiet moments. When they were allowed to just relax and goof off or mess around with each other like this. To just...be a kid. Maybe make up for all the time she missed out on while living under that roof in Mistral. They didn't get that much time at Beacon before...before all this, but every minute they did get...it was...she loved it all.

Some part of her down deep wanted it to be a thing again, to just try and turn back time and go back to the way things were. But with everything that had happened since, that just didn't seem...possible. To carry on again after all they had suffered and lost was a tremendous ask. It wasn't her place to even bring it up. So she did not, and that part of her was silenced as she walked along with the others. This was already going to be hard enough, no matter how Neo or Tyrian reacted to seeing her again.

Gods what am I even going to say???

She was still no closer to solving that dilemma.

Mercury actually looked kind of relaxed where he was sprawled out in a gutter, head propped on his elbow as he affixed Watts with a wary frown and a sarcastic edge nevertheless honed enough to cut.



"Dude. Basically a hate crime."

They were slipping further and further into the nooks and winds of Vacuo's sandstone architecture, its well-lit streets left far behind, every new corner they turned welcoming them with a jog to catch up with where Emerald was already making the next one. At the end of it all they found their former classmate standing with the utmost confidence at what appeared to be a dead end, nothing but a neat two-dimensional representation of a tiger's maw drawn in chalk to decorate the wall of the enclosed alley. She was staring at it intently, thumb and forefinger clasping her chin while she murmured musing half-phrases under her breath, trying to will herself to some sort of brainwave.

"Forgot the district phrase, huh? Pft. Totally embarrassing. Oh well, I got this." Mercury made one of his little remarks as he strutted up with the other two, uncommonly quiet. He didn't come to a stop with them, instead looking to reestablish some of his jock swagger as he sauntered up to the chalk outline and spread his arms out wide. "Open Salami!"

An embarrassing amount of nothing happened.

"Guess not, idiot."

"Yeah, almost like I'm not the one who spent his entire life here using this crap."

"It's been almost two years! They changed the passwords while I was away!" She snapped defensively, still on edge. She rubbed her chin, honestly disappointed in herself for forgetting, tuning her partner out to start reverse engineering whatever they were trying to deduce. "Okay, okayyy. It's definitely 'open' something. Used to be 'sunflower'. Sunflowers, petals, vine, leaves, seeds... seeds, seeds, this district deals in a lot of grain and seed produce, pumpkin, flax, chia, sesame ohhhhhh! Okay I got it."

She turned away, a proud grin on her face as she turned to face the other two and started doing deadpan anticipatory jazz hands. Mercury casually put a fist up, shielding his eyes.

"Open Sesame—"

FWOOOOOSH

The moment her lips started forming the words they noticed the eyes on the chalk tiger start to glow a deep, menacing amber, and as the final syllable left her mouth the open one framing her suddenly exploded with a searing white light not far removed from a flashbang's. When their vision cleared a few seconds later Emerald was nowhere to be seen, and Mercury stared at the tiger where there now existed an impenetrable sheet of white energy in the space between its jaws, replacing the alley wall. Its eyes continued to glow, thin wispy curls of radiant light illuminating the tiny sigils etched into the wall around the chalk, which shimmered and curled with their own faint glow. He blanched, hands flying to his face.

"HOLY SHIT, EMERALD! SHE MUST'VE TRIED ONE TOO MANY WRONG PASSWORDS AND ACTIVATED THE FAILSAFE THAT MAKES STREET ART COME TO LIFE AND EAT YOU!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO— psych."

He composed himself instantly and threw his hands up in a casual shrug, already taking his own steps towards the tiger's maw and pivoting to walk backwards and address the other two while he did.



"Just kidding. Do exactly what I do and you'll both be fine, probably. Oh, but before I forget, whatever you do don't—and I mean DON'T—"

His path carried him into the jaws before he was finished, and rather than growing fainter or further away his voice simply cut off in its entirety mid-sentence as the pool of light swallowed him up, leaving Arthur and Cinder alone in the alley.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

As desperate, harrowing, and strangely intimate as what they'd just been through had been, it was a truth worth noting that on a fundamental level Blake and Yang were two very different beasts. There were certainly similarities, strong, yearning veins in their poor wayward souls that had reached out and found each other like hands grasping blindly in the darkness; both were furious at the vileness and hypocrisy of the world around them, and both had once been compassionate hearts mercilessly ripped apart by the wolves. But the Dragon had been born in the depths of despair, her forging one of simple human cruelty and neglect, and while Sienna had used Blake's wrath to coax and whip her into a crystallized purpose Yang's had been left to fester inside her until the day it was set loose upon the world by Ozpin. Her formative experiences had taught her the world was a place where might made right, where the weak suffered at the hands of the strong until they either died or became strong themselves and that was just the way of things.

Of course everything that had happened to that miserable, pathetic, disgusting little runt in pigtails shivering in the corner of the Tribe's camp on any given night had happened. Of course no one loved her, no one wanted her, no one ever came back for her. She was asking for it. Not literally asking to suffer, the way kitty had; she was asking for it by being born that way. By wanting love. By wanting affection. By not getting with the program uncle Qrow's merry men had been cramming down her throat ever since she was a kid, that those concepts were just stories the kingdoms made up to sell movie tickets. On the night she'd finally been beaten down past her limit Yang threw herself headlong into embracing that philosophy, her new worldview tempered only by the harsh edge of vindictive irony as she strove to spit in the face of everything polite society found happy and wholesome and hopeful and tender and kind. All the things she'd wanted so bad and been denied.

She was a reckoning. A natural disaster given form, a storm of the world's own making. She didn't think, she just acted. She did what felt right, and it just happened that most of the time what felt right was violence. Dragon was just as rattled as Blake, but she wasn't questioning this the way the Hand was, wasn't shying away from this long, strange, horrible moment of warmth the two of them were having. It showed in the wild excitement in her eyes, a sort of genuine life and spark Blake couldn't recall in either iteration of Ozpin's enforcer she was familiar with. She was leaning into it. Her soul was reaching out, trying to grab on to as much of that warmth as it could before it passed out of reach, exposing itself as a hypocrite in the process and not caring.

View attachment 864627

That and the 'act, don't think' philosophy may have had something to do with her next actions. Alert scarlet eyes and a steady, attentive frown were all she met Blake's rebuttal with, eyes that clearly weren't as concerned with offering any judgment, pushback or advice as they were with making it clear to the Hand that someone was here for her, listening and understanding and wanting to do anything they could to make it right. That made it all the more surprising when Dragon came back in a voice with every bit as much of an emphatic, vehement edge as Blake's had carried before, as unwavering as the gaze on the faunus she wouldn't release.

"You're wrong."

Spoiler

View attachment 864633

When Blake made that noise into her wrist was when Yang cut her off, and she felt arms around her pull her into a familiar warmth with a far more forceful embrace than before, guiding Blake's head to rest on her chest and collar this time. Whatever wave of sudden motivation the stifled sob had garnered appeared to have converted into straight energy, Yang somehow finding the strength to sit up on her haunches and take the weight of the embrace as she tried to encourage Blake to lean against her.

"I wasn't just there, I could feel it. I felt everything you were feeling. You're so strong, kitten. So brave." The words were little more than a soft, soothing murmur, delivered almost directly into the cat ears Yang's jaw was tucked against. "But it's fucked up. Look at you. Look what they did. Why should this be your story? It's not fair. You should have so much more. You deserved so much better."

It had probably dawned on Blake by this point that the Dragon only had one hand, and the set of fingers softly threading and kneading through her hair were of a very specific nature. She felt them shudder lightly against her roots as Yang ensconced her, but the sensation that ensued was different this time as the pain and sorrow gripping Blake started to slough off her. More... gradual.

"That's all I want, okay? Not to be your fucking... white knight or whatever. Just to help. Anything I can do, whenever and however you want me, I'm all yours. Yes, anything." Her voice injected a wry edge, its pitch, breath, and the way Yang's chest vibrated with it all combining into a caress as potent as anything she was doing physically. "I j-just... want... you... to feel good. B-because even the Hand... needs a hand... every once in a while... heh... three layers of joke..."

She shuddered, and Blake had a moment to contemplate why ostensibly the same emotion sapping effect that had been such a horrible, violating process a few short minutes ago appeared so tame this time in comparison. The grimm's influence was growing, but Yang still retained dominant control over their shared form; a measure of control that extended even to its own black, corrupted flesh. This time the predator inside was suppressed by the one holding her, and though its drain lapped at the edges of her soul she didn't feel as if she was being fed on like the contents of a pig trough—it was more like her darker emotions were rising off her like waves of steam, disappearing into Yang to be held for safekeeping as Blake was introduced to a sense of warm, numbing serenity by inches rather than being stripped bare and exposed by an uncaring hunger.

This apparently wasn't an enjoyable process for Dragon whatsoever, and more than just the strain of exertion in her voice as she fought to keep the monstrosity in her arm from tearing into Blake with impunity again there was a strain of emotion, of sadness and deep, simmering rage. It begged the question of just where a majority of the negativity being siphoned off her was ending up that Yang's muscles were seizing up with panic and distress again, and her heart had started to pound by the time Blake felt moisture trickling against her that only could've come from the berserker's eyes, using the other woman as a physical anchor to keep her focus as she screwed her eyes shut and forced out a hoarse, strangled whimper through clenched teeth.

"...Hurry..."​

If there was any reaction Blake might've had towards just how the Dragon was feeling the affects of siphoning The Hand's emotions, or the soothing, protective words that preceded it, it didn't show. Unlike the violent draining of before, Blake leaned into the hand, focused on the feeling of its claws against her skin, and let it do its work. Her eyes were placid, as she instead embraced the calm this time instead tried to fight it off with every part of her being.

The words she replied with were of the same calm, almost warm, and completely at odds with what they said as her palm began to glow again, soft white light in turn at odds with their blood-soaked, macabre surroundings.

"You can't, because I can't offer the same. Your monster is right; These hands weren't made for this, for healing. But I'll offer what I can. You can wield me too. Just like Ozma. Just like the High leader."

Despite the drain, there was a zealous, fervent edge biting at the calm, the light of spring reflecting from golden eyes in a way that made them shine like stars peaking through the dawn.

"Justice. Vengeance. You've earned it. You deserve it. All those who wronged you. Who might wrong you. If you say they live, they live they die-"

The look she gave Yang as she glanced upwards was as soft as the sky itself, a ghost of a smile even flickering across her lips in this alien, artificial peace she was accepting into her soul. It didn't matter how much she hated the death, so long as there was purpose, so long as it was ordained by the worthy.

"-They die."

 

[MyrtenRose]

Mercury actually looked kind of relaxed where he was sprawled out in a gutter, head propped on his elbow as he affixed Watts with a wary frown and a sarcastic edge nevertheless honed enough to cut.

View attachment 866430

"Dude. Basically a hate crime."

They were slipping further and further into the nooks and winds of Vacuo's sandstone architecture, its well-lit streets left far behind, every new corner they turned welcoming them with a jog to catch up with where Emerald was already making the next one. At the end of it all they found their former classmate standing with the utmost confidence at what appeared to be a dead end, nothing but a neat two-dimensional representation of a tiger's maw drawn in chalk to decorate the wall of the enclosed alley. She was staring at it intently, thumb and forefinger clasping her chin while she murmured musing half-phrases under her breath, trying to will herself to some sort of brainwave.

"Forgot the district phrase, huh? Pft. Totally embarrassing. Oh well, I got this." Mercury made one of his little remarks as he strutted up with the other two, uncommonly quiet. He didn't come to a stop with them, instead looking to reestablish some of his jock swagger as he sauntered up to the chalk outline and spread his arms out wide. "Open Salami!"

An embarrassing amount of nothing happened.

"Guess not, idiot."

"Yeah, almost like I'm not the one who spent his entire life here using this crap."

"It's been almost two years! They changed the passwords while I was away!" She snapped defensively, still on edge. She rubbed her chin, honestly disappointed in herself for forgetting, tuning her partner out to start reverse engineering whatever they were trying to deduce. "Okay, okayyy. It's definitely 'open' something. Used to be 'sunflower'. Sunflowers, petals, vine, leaves, seeds... seeds, seeds, this district deals in a lot of grain and seed produce, pumpkin, flax, chia, sesame ohhhhhh! Okay I got it."

She turned away, a proud grin on her face as she turned to face the other two and started doing deadpan anticipatory jazz hands. Mercury casually put a fist up, shielding his eyes.

"Open Sesame—"

FWOOOOOSH

The moment her lips started forming the words they noticed the eyes on the chalk tiger start to glow a deep, menacing amber, and as the final syllable left her mouth the open one framing her suddenly exploded with a searing white light not far removed from a flashbang's. When their vision cleared a few seconds later Emerald was nowhere to be seen, and Mercury stared at the tiger where there now existed an impenetrable sheet of white energy in the space between its jaws, replacing the alley wall. Its eyes continued to glow, thin wispy curls of radiant light illuminating the tiny sigils etched into the wall around the chalk, which shimmered and curled with their own faint glow. He blanched, hands flying to his face.

"HOLY SHIT, EMERALD! SHE MUST'VE TRIED ONE TOO MANY WRONG PASSWORDS AND ACTIVATED THE FAILSAFE THAT MAKES STREET ART COME TO LIFE AND EAT YOU!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO— psych."

He composed himself instantly and threw his hands up in a casual shrug, already taking his own steps towards the tiger's maw and pivoting to walk backwards and address the other two while he did.

View attachment 866513

"Just kidding. Do exactly what I do and you'll both be fine, probably. Oh, but before I forget, whatever you do don't—and I mean DON'T—"

His path carried him into the jaws before he was finished, and rather than growing fainter or further away his voice simply cut off in its entirety mid-sentence as the pool of light swallowed him up, leaving Arthur and Cinder alone in the alley.​

She was as silent as a grave for most of the rest of the walk as well as during Merc and Em's back and forth at the dead end. A quietness born of a combination of worry, dread and guilt about seeing Neo and Tyrian again, and at Mercury being more distant, and the sheer awkwardness that came with Em. But the silence on her end was broken when they got to the right password. If she even noticed Merc laying it on thick with the dramatic acting, she gave no sign of it. Her gaze rested solidly on the tiger artwork filling up the wall, her mouth slightly open and eyes wide as she stared up in awe. "Wooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwww."

Even for just a moment, all the fear and guilt and concern and everything else faded away. All the troubles, the things she'd done wrong, the mistakes she'd made and friends she had let down weren't weighing her down and she felt even younger than she was. There was just this really really really freaking cool thing drawing her attention! A secret door hidden in artwork and only accessible if you knew the right words?!? How goddamn cool is that!? It was a wonder that she wasn't bouncing in place, her smile widening almost ridiculously so. It was like a magic gateway! Just one more cool thing she'd never have gotten to see if her dad had gotten his way. If she'd never received the power of a maiden, if she had just been a little less lucky. "Arthur! Art!" She shortened his name for the repeat as she tugged on his sleeve. "Art, did you see that? In the--uh, art!" She knew full well he had seen it but it was just so cool!

She wanted to rush right in at a run but she restrained herself to a fast walk, doing her best to listen to what Merc said and follow him exactly, down to where his feet landed with each step, or as best as she could manage anyway. The other side of wherever this led to was likely mundane, pretty normal as things went but the unique way of getting there, well...suffice it to say that got her imagination running. Her mind picturing her stepping out into a whole brand new world, filled with vibrant bright colors and bustling with activity and people and animals and so much energy!

She didn't even think even a little bit about the what not to do warning Mercury didn't get to finish saying.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

If there was any reaction Blake might've had towards just how the Dragon was feeling the affects of siphoning The Hand's emotions, or the soothing, protective words that preceded it, it didn't show. Unlike the violent draining of before, Blake leaned into the hand, focused on the feeling of its claws against her skin, and let it do its work. Her eyes were placid, as she instead embraced the calm this time instead tried to fight it off with every part of her being.

The words she replied with were of the same calm, almost warm, and completely at odds with what they said as her palm began to glow again, soft white light in turn at odds with their blood-soaked, macabre surroundings.

"You can't, because I can't offer the same. Your monster is right; These hands weren't made for this, for healing. But I'll offer what I can. You can wield me too. Just like Ozma. Just like the High leader."

Despite the drain, there was a zealous, fervent edge biting at the calm, the light of spring reflecting from golden eyes in a way that made them shine like stars peaking through the dawn.

"Justice. Vengeance. You've earned it. You deserve it. All those who wronged you. Who might wrong you. If you say they live, they live they die-"

The look she gave Yang as she glanced upwards was as soft as the sky itself, a ghost of a smile even flickering across her lips in this alien, artificial peace she was accepting into her soul. It didn't matter how much she hated the death, so long as there was purpose, so long as it was ordained by the worthy.

"-They die."

Even with Blake's palm glowing and Spring's rejuvenating energies filling Yang with a reassuring warmth, mending broken flesh and bone, the Hand could feel her patient's prodigious strength ebb further and further even as she gripped the faunus tighter and tighter. The desperate grunts and gasps leaving her lips, along with the occasional soft, sinister growl rumbling up from the back of her throat, formed a majority of what little returned communication Blake received throughout the process; yet there were more positive exclamations sprinkled in, too, mostly babbles of approval drawn by the other woman's touch or words, little more than vague, incoherent affirmation that she was still awake, still listening, still here. By the end it was clear the strong arms around her were squeezing as tight as they were physically capable of, and yet the form trembling against her felt frailer than it ever had, Dragon's every breath a labor under the strain of trying to stay up under her own power, to not slump against Blake so they could continue mutually holding each other upright.

When the Hand looked up, the source of that miscast frailty was immediately and glaringly apparent.

Spoiler

Whatever roundabout method of draining Blake Dragon was taking had demanded she synthesize with the Grimm almost fully, and the dangers of such were readily evident. All color in her skin had faded to a pale, lifeless white, a kind of bleached purity comparable to marble or ivory. That sight would've been troubling enough in its own right, even if the total lack of complexion hadn't been spreading through her tangled head of hair as well, its standard brilliant gold washed out to a sickly straw color that tapered into that same stark platinum near the roots. The sudden contrast only served to highlight the black, engorged veins running along her cheeks, squirming like insects trapped under her top layer of skin, converging on whites of the eyes that had likewise been dyed an inky black and now framed pupils that glowed a deeper and more malevolent shade of red than anything Blake had seen in those eyes outside this state.

For a fleeting instant, even with her ability to process and respond to danger being so effectively pacified, the faunus's instincts didn't miss the twinkle of hungry menace buried deep in those eyes. Instincts not unlike those one might feel from inside the serpent's jaw. It was a patient, restrained hunger, born of one who had no need for nourishment, no fear of the passage of time; not a predator who hunted in the name of survival or the defense of its kin, but for pure pleasure and sport. Who claimed its prey only at the time of its choosing, not a second before, but whose proximity to such a luxurious meal had it genuinely questioning whether that time should be now.

Then those eyes registered how serene Blake's were, how content and at-ease and warming like the sun cresting over the leaves in fall the smile her lips traced was, and the only thing hidden in Yang's gaze was the camera she was using to take a mental snapshot of what that looked like so she could come back to it at any time she wanted for the rest of her life.



"Pahahaha, awwww! How fucked up is it that that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me?"

She threw her head back with a goofy, wholehearted laugh, and in spite of her throat's parched and raspy qualities no one could question the sincerity of it. Least of all, it appeared, her Grimm arm, which gave a contentious shudder and seemed to shrivel somewhat in mass in time with the raucous outburst. Coincidentally or otherwise, some of Yang's more usual vigor seemed to return, her strength sufficient to take Blake properly in her arms again as the deathly pale and corrupted ichor receded from her personage. Her voice dropped to a more modest pitch, Dragon's movements growing weak and sluggish again as she recovered from the tiny jolt of electricity and goosebumps such ardent (if terrifying???) words had given her.

"...B-but... gotta keep it straight with ya, kitty. Wasn't really... in the market... for a new way to kill shit." Her gasps between words were becoming denser at an exponential rate, shortness of breath growing more and more pronounced as the avalanche of negativity she'd sponged from Blake all came surging back. In terrifying amounts, honestly. Her arm's constant gnawing on the wild vortex of emotions inside her was the only thing keeping it from reducing Yang to a gibbering, crying, mindbroken wreck, and the physical toll such a delicate tightrope act must've been enacting was severe if sight was anything to judge by. Dragon was obviously trying to play it off, leaning in a little closer to mask the violent shudder originating in her core and winking. "E-even if she's kinda cute, haha, ha... nah... I just... just—nnnnnnnnnnnnhg!—"

She couldn't quite stop the spike of pain from leaving her doubled over with arms at her gut this time, exiting her lungs as a tiny, muted squeal she made every effort to bite down on and eviscerate before it could pass her teeth. Still, she stayed upright, forcing a measure of composure back into her gaze as she lifted it with a pant.

"...This isn't some fuzzy little circlejerk or like a you-scratch-my-back, I'll-scratch-yours type thing, okay. Not to be a huge dyke, but I just think you deserve a few more chances to smile the way you just smiled at me is all. Actually, you know what? I know the universe owes you that. So... y'know..."

Around the point she met Blake's eyes again to reveal two trails of black tears already rolling down her cheeks was when everything clicked into place; First, the Dragon had managed to use her more emotionally vampiric qualities to gently but surely extract huge swathes of Blake's negative energy without actively letting the beast devour it. Second, using her own body and soul to harbor such potent negativity in such vast amounts on top of her own after conducting it through a Grimm was incurring some intense physiological changes, very few of which appeared to be for the better.

And third, judging from how it occurred to Blake the Grimm hand was no longer touching her and the violent tidal wave of hate, anger and fear had yet to come surging back in with a vengeance, she had no apparent intention of giving a single drop of what she'd just drained back.



"...Don't be mad?"​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

She was as silent as a grave for most of the rest of the walk as well as during Merc and Em's back and forth at the dead end. A quietness born of a combination of worry, dread and guilt about seeing Neo and Tyrian again, and at Mercury being more distant, and the sheer awkwardness that came with Em. But the silence on her end was broken when they got to the right password. If she even noticed Merc laying it on thick with the dramatic acting, she gave no sign of it. Her gaze rested solidly on the tiger artwork filling up the wall, her mouth slightly open and eyes wide as she stared up in awe. "Wooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwww."

Even for just a moment, all the fear and guilt and concern and everything else faded away. All the troubles, the things she'd done wrong, the mistakes she'd made and friends she had let down weren't weighing her down and she felt even younger than she was. There was just this really really really freaking cool thing drawing her attention! A secret door hidden in artwork and only accessible if you knew the right words?!? How goddamn cool is that!? It was a wonder that she wasn't bouncing in place, her smile widening almost ridiculously so. It was like a magic gateway! Just one more cool thing she'd never have gotten to see if her dad had gotten his way. If she'd never received the power of a maiden, if she had just been a little less lucky. "Arthur! Art!" She shortened his name for the repeat as she tugged on his sleeve. "Art, did you see that? In the--uh, art!" She knew full well he had seen it but it was just so cool!

She wanted to rush right in at a run but she restrained herself to a fast walk, doing her best to listen to what Merc said and follow him exactly, down to where his feet landed with each step, or as best as she could manage anyway. The other side of wherever this led to was likely mundane, pretty normal as things went but the unique way of getting there, well...suffice it to say that got her imagination running. Her mind picturing her stepping out into a whole brand new world, filled with vibrant bright colors and bustling with activity and people and animals and so much energy!

She didn't even think even a little bit about the what not to do warning Mercury didn't get to finish saying.​

If anything, Arthur seemed more perturbed by the new nickname than anything, a morose glance shot towards his partner even as he was already stepping forward, intrigued but apparently not particularly worried by the idea of stepping through a sheet of light straight into a brick wall; petty jabs were one thing, but its not like he thought Emerald or mercury were going to purposefully lead them to pain or actual danger as a goofem.

He did take a second to stick a hand through first, just to make sure it didn't turn off as soon as he got up to it and he ran facefirst into it, because that he wouldn't put past them.