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Yang slammed her back against the building next to her, breaths coming fast and light. Everything had gone wrong in Atlas, every fucking thing. Oscar was kidnapped by that giant hound, Amity had fallen, Penny had somehow been hacked, or brainwashed, or something , and then, even when they finally marshaled together to take on Salem and her forces, it hadn’t been enough. Yang had been too distracted holding off a horde of Grimm and Mercury at the same time that she hadn’t been able to pay much attention to the rest of the fight. That was a perk of Ruby’s silver eyes, they drew the attention of everyone around them. Disintegrating the Grimm helped too, of course.
It hadn’t helped that Ruby had been attacked by Cinder and Emerald at the same time, Yang unable to come to her aid while fighting off Mercury while Weiss and Blake were too busy fighting Hazel and Neo. With the rest of their team nowhere nearby, it was amazing that they’d survived as long as they had.
But killing them wasn’t the point. No, it was far from it. Salem was always a twisted one, it seemed, as she had her minions subdue team RWBY, pinning them to the ground even as they struggled to escape. Salem had summoned her newest monstrosity, the massive Hound striding out of nothing as though the very movements were tearing it to pieces. Yang hadn’t thought that things could get much worse. The world was ending, Atlas was falling, their allies forced to turn against them, but then Salem delivered the hammer blow. She had spoken calmly, like a teacher explaining a simple lesson to a child, and rested her hand on the Hound’s mask of bone. With a vicious motion she had wrenched the bone away, tearing the black flesh away with it. The Hound howled in pain, bellowing in agony as Salem ripped its maw apart, down, down, from its jaw, to its neck, to its chest. The further the tear went, the more the howls were that of an animal, and the more they became that of a woman.
Yang had thought that she’d seen the worst the Grimm had to throw at them, from the horrifying Apathy to the gigantic monsters that Salem commanded, but this was a new terror. Nothing could have prepared her for the way her heart plummeted and a scream tore its way from her lips as the black flesh peeled back to reveal a face she knew so well, that she had wished time and time again to see once more.
Not like this. Gods, anything but this.
No sooner had she and Ruby screamed in horror and agony at the sight of their own monther, Summer Rose, inside the body of the Hound, impaled by a thousand membranous tentacles that sunk in her face, her neck, her mind , than did Salem let the mask of bone go, and the Hound repaired itself as though it had never been injured.
Yang had activated her semblance in a blind fury, not knowing who she wanted to hurt, who she wanted to attack first, but knowing that Salem was to blame for all of this. Every loss, every horrible betrayal in her life, the loss of Raven, Summer, her father dying years ago while still stumbling through life, everything came back to Salem. Yang had broken free from Mercury’s grip and launched herself at Salem with a bellow of rage, only for the queen of Grimm to swipe her to the side as though bored. A lance of pure energy shot from her fingers and caught Yang in the air, slamming her against the ground like a ragdoll. Her aura broke immediately and any resistance she might have had left was gone when Mercury kicked her in the back of the head with a hideous snarl.
Her vision swam black, her consciousness fading, but it had been enough to see what happened next. Weiss and Blake were restrained by some kind of magic, whether Salem or Cinder, Yang couldn’t tell, but Ruby…Cinder had thrown her baby sister over her shoulder, shooting Yang a victorious smirk before falling in line behind Salem, and vanishing as Yang lost consciousness.
Now, weeks later, they finally had a second chance. Things in Atlas were fucked, but elsewhere in Remnant people were rallying together to fight Salem. Ghira and Kali had arrived with an army, backed up by a small contingent of Mistralian Huntsmen and Huntresses. Tai had sent a message that he was busy finding Raven, and that he would come as soon as he had talked to her. The Happy Huntresses were organizing militias in the crater. Things were looking up, if only just.
But Yang never stopped working, never stopped searching for Ruby, for a way to breach the side of that fucking whale and save her sister. The only sleep she got was when Blake either held her too tightly to escape, when she collapsed from exhaustion, or when Weiss physically restrained her with her glyphs. She might’ve found it funny, once, but that seemed like a lifetime ago.
There was no need to go to Salem, she had come to them. Or at least a small contingent of them had. Cinder had been spotted in the southern half of Mantle, with a small horde of Grimm. Yang had bolted for her bike, Blake and Weiss only a step behind her. They might not be able to beat a Maiden, but they could sure as hell slow her down.
Yang peered out from behind the wall she was hiding behind, spotting Cinder first. She was flying, as she seemed wont to do, flames on the sides of her eyes licking the air greedily. Yang’s breath caught in her throat as she forced her rising rage back down and focussed on the Grimm instead.
The Hound was with them, as though to mock her. It strode, painfully as ever, in front of the rest of the Grimm. Between that beast and Cinder, the three of them were barely an obstacle, but they still had to try. Yang could find a way to save Summer later, when Ruby was safe. This seemed like as good a place as any to start.
“I know you’re there,” Cinder drawled, a shimmering flame solidifying into a sword in her hand, “Why not come out and give mommy a kiss hello?” That was too much and Yang sprung around the corner, gauntlets at the ready. She heard Weiss and Blake leap into action, an Arma Gigas appearing from nothing beside them, ready to fight.
They froze in the street, staring in absolute horror as something new appeared from behind the Hound. It was smaller, sleeker, and moved with the same horrible pain as the beast it had hidden behind. With a rumbling crack that traveled up from its chest and into its neck, the creature let out a small snarl, pawing at the ground as it smelled its newest prey. Then its head snapped to the side, a piece of its spine cracking into place, and it whipped back around. Even without eyes, Yang could tell it was staring directly at her.
“Yaaaaaaaang,” it breathed out, a snarl more than a word, and Yang’s blood ran cold. It couldn’t be. It was impossible. That-It was impossible!
But there was no way to deny it, nor a way to keep the single broken word from slipping out of Yang’s lips. “Ruby?” The second Hound snapped its jaw shut and snarled again, Yang falling to the concrete in disbelief. Blake said something and Weiss shouted, but she didn’t hear them, lost staring in mounting horror as her mother and sister stalked towards her, twisted and corrupted into Salem’s pawns.
It was only when Blake grabbed her by the arms and hauled her up that she realized they were running away. Yang felt tears running down her cheeks, her heart breaking as they ran. Weiss’ Arma Gigas held the line as best it could, but as Yang looked back she saw Summer and Ruby leap onto it, tearing away with massive claws and vicious teeth, Ruby tearing the knights head off with a victorious howl. Yang sobbed as she looked back at the road, forcing herself not to look back again.
Remnant might yet be saved, she thought, barely even recognizing the words as they drifted by her sorrow plagued mind, but she had already lost everything.