Chapter 28: A Gift
Chapter 28: A Gift
Yin sat at the side of Yang's bed, lifting a few of her golden-blonde locks and smiling. Her hair had gotten almost as long as her own. She was growing into a woman, though not as fast as Yin had been. Though, with her next act, she's sure Yang will quickly begin to change.
'I wonder.. Do you hate me? I was hasty back then. You and Ruby could have died. Even back then, with my dulled emotions and personality, the idea of you dying scared me to no end. You really grew on me, Sis.' Yin thought, idly brushing her blonde locks between her fingers tenderly.
"So," Yin whispered, resting her hand on Yang's head. "Even if you do hold anger toward me.. if you hate me for leaving you and Ruby.. I will never let you go."
Yin closed her eyes, focusing her attention within Yang. Where she saw a small, flickering Golden energy. Guided by her instincts, she pushed her presence closer to the energy. A growing, Umbral energy approaching the smaller light, gently pushing until it touched the weaker Golden energy. A profound feeling began to swell within the two. The Golden energy, feeling invigorated by the Umbral energy's presence, began to grow, to feed off it and vice versa. Despite looking like complete opposites, the twin energies circled around each other in harmony, until a clearer image began to form.
The Umbral energy forming into a long black haired girl with purple eyes. The Golden energy forming into a smaller girl with long golden hair and red eyes. The two found themselves in a vast open space, divided into a multitude of colors. On Yin's side, was a tapestry of deep purple and black. On Yang's side, was a harmonious mix of gold and white. They both looked at each other in shock, but it was Yang who spoke first.
"..Y..in..?" She choked out emotionally, looking at the girl she knew was her sister.
What confused her, was the strange darkness that radiated from her sister's body. No, it seemed to make up the entirety of her body?
"Yang.." Yin's shock abated, looking at the ethereal, almost holy image of her sister before being suddenly embraced by her.
"..*Sniff* Don't care if this is a dream. I'm so happy to see you.." Yang buried her face in her taller sister's shoulder, hands clutching her tight, as if afraid she'd disappear if she let go.
Yin placed her hand on Yang's head and affectionately stroked the top of it. Unkowingly sighing from relief. She looked down at her sister and smiled.
"Good to know you don't hate me for leaving.." Yang shook her head at her words.
"What? Of course not! It was my own fault. If I wasn't so stupid.. So reckless... Haaah.." Yang sighed, placing her head on her shoulder and looking down shamefully.
"Don't do that. You were a kid, Yang. You wanted to know more about our Mother. There's nothing wrong with that." Yin idly flicked Yang's cowlick as she replied.
"So were you! You were... You were all I needed. I wanted you to be happier. You seemed to know way more than you let on and you always felt so.. far away. Always telling me not to worry about looking for her. You even tried to stop us that day and I.. I stubbornly refused to listen. I'm sorry.." Yang felt her eyes sting with unshed tears, trying to blink them away.
Yin paused, taking in her words before a gentle smile blossomed on her face. Burying Yang's head in her hug, Yin felt a wave of happiness wash over her.
"You went looking for me.. Oh Yang. There's nothing to forgive." Yin sighed in bliss. Yang closed her eyes as her shoulders relaxed. "This is a good dream.." Yang muttered. "What makes you think this is a dream?" Yin asked, her voice laced with amusement. "Well..? Um.. We're made of energy? And you're taller for some reason. Way bustier too.. Oh my god am I a pervert..?" Yang asked herself in dread.
"Pff~ No, Yang.. Maybe you won't remember this when you wake up but.. I'm a Dragon. We both are. Over the years, my body has been changing. Years ago, you were there when you saw it. How I squirmed in pain on our Birthday. That's the first step to awaken. I am offering you the very same thing now." Yang took in her words, pulling her head away from her shoulder and looking up at her purple eyes.
"A Dragon..?" Yang asked, thinking back to when Yin's body went through terrible pain years prior.
"Yes. I went through the awakening stages and, frankly.. a lot of pain to become one. I'm offering you the same choice. If you don't want to-" Yang grabbed her arm urgently.
"I do.. Please?" Yang asked, biting her lower lip.
Yin smiled and lowered herself to Yang's height before resting her forehead on hers and looking into her eyes.
"Good. You're old enough to bear it, but it will hurt. Summer and Dad.. they might try to take you to a Doctor's. They won't find anything wrong with you. The awakenings will happen faster for you, but they'll be set in different stages. It goes from blood, bone marrow, your internal organs, skin and your.. um... have you gotten the birds and bees talk..?" Yin asked, watching as Yang's expression blanked before souring.
"Ergh.. yeah....." Yang looked away in embarassment.
"Phew.. Good. Your reproductive organs will be overhauled too. While these come with some benefits, you'll essentially go into heat when you hit sixteen or seventeen. Just a fair warning, you'll develop pretty fast so expect growing pains and being hungry often. Last part, is your Dragon Heart. Something which I just awakened myself. It allows for a temporary Dragon transformation and allows you to generate and use magic." Yin explained, seeing the burning desire and excitement for it in Yang's eyes as she hit her palm with her fist.
"Hell yeah! We can turn into Dragons!!" Yang pumped her arm in excitement.
"Indeed. Past that, I'm not sure. As I'm still growing and undergoing awakenings myself. And another thing, Yang.. Do not tell Summer, Dad, Qrow and Ruby about this." Yin finished with a warning.
"Huh? Why not? Do you not trust them?" Yang asked with an adorable tilt to her head.
"It's not that. They'll tell Ozpin, very likely. Qrow might be more likely to say something but still. They may think something's wrong with you, or they might try to use you as some sort of weapon. I'm not certain. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, or I let Mom's opinion of him get to me. Either way, I don't trust the man. Not yet at least. Promise me this stays between us, okay?" Yin asked.
"Mn," Yang nodded seriously "Cross my heart."
Yin took two steps back, only to have her arm caught by Yang.
"I.. Can't you stay longer? I wanna tell you about how I improved. I wanna hear about you too. Ruby misses you.. So does Dad, Mom and Uncle Qrow." Yang's lip trembled as she held onto
her sister.
Yin looked silently at Yang before taking her hand gently. She smiled apologetically before squeezing it.
"I'm sorry, Yang. Before you enter Beacon, I'll come for you. I need to do a few things first. Establish myself in Remnant. When that's done, I'll never leave your side for long." Yin promised before letting go, as their bodies and the space they found themselves in began to
dissipate.
Yang reached out futiley as the image of her sister vanished before her eyes.
"AAH!" Yang jolted awake, her alarm clock blaring loudly.
"Hoou..." Yang sighed, turning the alarm clock off with a small grunt of annoyance.
Eight AM. Lucky for her it was the weekend. So that meant she could laze around for a half hour before getting up. That is, if Ruby didn't charge into her room and demand she open her gifts. Yang yawned before feeling a strange weight in her palm. Blinking the early morning tiredness from her eyes, she looked at the thing in her palm.
A beautiful black dragon pendant, in the shape of the Yin Taijitu. Yang stared at it in silence, feeling a warmth within her chest, her eyes stung with unshed tears. Vague memories that felt like a dream came rushing back.
"So.. she was here. Yin was.." Yang muttered, noticing the piece of paper on her nightstand.
Yang rushed to read it, careful not to rip it accidentally.
'Yang. This is my gift to you, alongside beginning your Dragon awakening. I made it myself in another world. (I'll tell you about it later). I made a white version I wear, to remind myself of you. I've also realized how many birthdays I've missed, regarding you and Ruby. So I left a few gifts in your closet for you both. I know this doesn't make up for all our lost time but it's a start. I know you will pull through your awakenings, but if you ever feel yourself faltering, know this. Once you set your mind to something, there is nothing you cannot accomplish. In/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
believe in you, sis. I love you -Yin'
Yang wiped her face with a beaming smile before getting up.
"Freaking emotions... dammit, Yin.." Yang complained with a small smile.
Yang set the paper down before neatly folding it and placing it in her night stand drawer. Exhaling, she opened her walk-in closet to see what her sister got for her. Her jaw nearly hit
the floor.
A custom motorcycle, painted yellow and black. A few sets of clothes that looked like it'd fit her in a few years. Black scaled shotgun gauntlets, which looked scarily similar to Ember Celica, which Ruby had been creating for the past few weeks for her. And, what looked to be some kind of Dust Revolver, only it was made of some unknown metal and black scales. "Best... birthday ever.." Yang sighed in contentment before noticing the other pile of presents addressed to Ruby.
"So many weapons schematics... Is that..... a rifle axe?" Yang shuddered, thinking of the insane geek-supernova that would be Ruby if she found this.
BAM!
"Yaaaaaaaaaaang!!! Wakey-wakey birthday girl! I made you some birthday cookie-........" Ruby barged in, seeing the insane pile of weapons and schematics stacked into Yang's closet.
"Oooooooo....aaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA...AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHH!!!!!!!" Ruby began to vibrate on the spot from sheer excitement.
"KIDS!! KIDS!! GET UNDER SOMETHING! THERE'S AN EARTHQUAKE!!" Tai screamed from
downstairs in complete panic.
"You went way too hard, sis..." Yang groaned as she grabbed a hold of the extremely excited
eleven year old.
-Branwen Camp-
Yin sat in front of her Mother at the table set up within her tent. They were enjoying a nice cup
of tea when Yin stated something that made Raven pause.
"Say that again..?" Raven asked, looking at her daughter seriously.
"I want to leave. Not the clan. But to explore Remnant. What we have set up here is fine. But we can do better. Vale, for the underworld connections. Atlas, for the lien and tech. Vacuo, for the manpower a clan needs. And Menagerie, to bridge the gap with the Faunus." Yin stated,
putting down her cup.
"...Do you know why I never had you leave Anima?" Raven asked after a short pause. "Anima is relatively peaceful." Yin answered, seeing her Mother nod back.
"The Beormir fled Mantle land because of the Elite Huntsmen of Atlas, plus the Frost Grimm. Anima, while being at the Frontier, isn't considered that dangerous. No Elite Huntsmen to come kill us if we're not burning towns to the ground and enslaving the townspeople. No congregation of powerful Grimm either. Indeed, apart from the Nuckleavee, Anima is quite tame. The rest of Remnant..? No." Raven sighed, seeing the determined expression still etched
on her daughter's face.
"I've told you the rankings for Huntsmen before. Thing is, they don't just apply to Huntsmen. That's just what the public's been fed. There's assassins, warlords, mercenaries.. They have strength comparable to the Huntsmen ranks too." Raven stated, eyes narrowing at Yin.
"Huntsmen in training Junior to Senior, Huntsmen initiate, Huntsmen, Huntsmen Veteran, Huntsmen Elite Veteran. There's no shortage of them out there. And not all believe in 'The mission' like Summer, Tai and Qrow do. Some are.." Yin held up her hand to stop her. "I'm not that ignorant of the world, Mom. I'm ready for this." Yin stated. "....Prove it. Fight me. No holds barred. If I deem you not ready, you'll stay. Is that understood?" Raven grabbed Omen, standing up.
"Understood. I've been waiting for this day.." Yin stood up after her, fists clenched in
anticipation.
[AN: Meant to write on my Birthday on Monday but it just didn't end up happening. Ah well.
Lmk how I did this chap.]