Shattered Destiny (ch1)

EARLY RELEASE FOR ALL MY PATRONS! HAPPY 2017! LOOK FORWARD TO A LOT MORE FICS THIS YEAR!

Remember, this is taking place several volumes in the past from where we are now. This is before the Vytal Festival at the moment, so we've got to mentally rewind a bit.

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

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												Chapter 1. The First Test

Needless to say, Yang was thoroughly shaken after waking from that nightmare the next morning.

Her eyes flew open, finding herself panting and covered in sweat, her hair sticking tightly to the sides of her face and the back of her neck, her sleepwear ruffled. The bed was a mess, clear evidence she'd been tossing and turning all night long. Her position was almost diagonal, with her feet dangling off to one side.

As she gathered her bearings, the fragmented images in the back of her mind swiftly faded off. The last thing she remembered was a flash of white, which was immediately swallowed up by flames.

A second later, everything was gone.

Yang sat up, still panting, wiping her forearms over her face in turn. She was sweating profusely, as though she herself had been the one to be consumed by fire.

/Get it together. It was just a dream.../

She couldn't afford to be distracted or off her game at all. Not today.

Because today was her doubles' match with Weiss in the tournament. She needed to focus now more than ever.

It took her a few minutes to compose herself, but luckily she seemed to be the first one awake that morning, so she didn't have to worry about anyone else noticing her distress. She took a few deep breaths, running her fingers back through her hair and trying not to think about what she'd seen last night in her dreams.

/I gotta go shower.../

Slowly, she shifted her weight to the side of the bed and eased her way down, landing as lightly as possible. She saw Blake's ears flick and tried to hurry to the bathroom before her partner could wake, but she wasn't quick enough. She'd only gotten a few hurried steps in when she heard the familiar groggy voice from behind her.

"Mn... Yang?"

She paused and plastered on a smile before turning around to face her.

"Morning, Blake!" she whispered. "I'm just gonna hit the shower. Unless you need to get in first?"

Blake shook her head as she pushed herself up and looked Yang over, scrutinizing her.

"Yang... is everything okay? I woke up a few times last night because you were rolling around so much."

Yang did her best to act natural.

"Oh, really? Sorry about that."

"No, it's okay." Blake's clear, golden eyes pierced into hers, unwavering. "I just want to make sure you're okay."

Yang almost faltered. Almost.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bad dream, y'know?"

Blake was silent for a moment, as if processing the answer and trying to examine it for any indication that it could be hiding something. But Blake of all people knew her fair share of nightmares, so it was no surprise she accepted the response.

"Okay. Sorry it had to happen the night before the doubles' match, of all times. Don't you think you should sleep in a bit more? We still have about an hour."

"Nah, I'm fine. I think I just need to shower more than anything."

Blake looked her over one more time, then offered a small smile.

"All right. I'm glad you're okay, Yang."

Yang gave her a thumbs-up.

"Thanks, partner."

With that, the blonde finished her walk to the bathroom and closed the door behind herself. She flicked on the light, then limped over to the sink, leaning both palms heavily against the edge.

She took a few more breaths, then looked up into the mirror.

Her eyes were red, and her hair was jet-black-

Gasping, she staggered back, until she couldn't see her reflection anymore. She whipped around and started running the shower water.

/Geez. Am I really going crazy? Today of all days? Get it together, Xiao Long./

She shed her clothes, thankful to be free of the stifling materials before stepping into the water. She'd ensured it was the perfect temperature before doing so.

But as she began to lather shampoo into her hair, the water turned almost blazing hot without warning. She yelped, jumping away as she rounded on the handle, and cranked it down to a colder setting. It lasted only for a few minutes before she felt more blistering water hitting against her back.

"What the hell-?"

Once again, she pushed the handle down, this time to the coldest possible setting. The water was freezing for a minute, causing her to shiver in the utmost discomfort. But it gradually started turning hot again.

She needed to quickly and haphazardly rinse out her hair before quite literally jumping out of the shower, covering herself with her towel. She was shivering, but her skin felt like it was still on fire. Clutching the towel to herself, she shut off the water, then sat down on the side of the tub.

/God... maybe I really am losing it.../

After a few minutes, the prickling sensation left her skin, and she dared to dress herself. She gave her semblance a flare to dry her hair out quickly, then gathered up her pajamas and exited the bathroom.

By that point, Weiss was already up, likely too excited about today's upcoming match to sleep in any longer. She looked up and gave Yang a smile.

"Good morning, Yang. I assume you had trouble sleeping, too?"

"Huh? I mean... yeah... a bit, I guess."

Weiss was referencing her jitters for the doubles' match, not the lingering discomfort from the nightmares. Yang didn't want anyone else to know about that, so she let it be concealed by allowing people to think she was just nervous about today's events.

Weiss finished making her bed, then made her way over to the blonde.

"Don't worry. We've trained amply for this. Even if we don't win, we'll still give the world an impressive show."

Her confidence was appreciated, and a little bit contagious. Yang managed to reflect the smile and made a fist.

"Yeah. You're right!"

She offered her fist to Weiss, who was puzzled for a moment before she understood what Yang wanted. The heiress made a fist too, and lightly bumped their knuckles together.

"Now, if you'll excuse me. I'd like to shower as well before your sister gets in and uses all the hot water."

"Oh, uh, Weiss?" Yang reached out to stop her. "You might wanna wait on that. I think something might be wrong with the pipes and stuff in our bathroom. The water was blazing hot no matter what I did."

"Really? I'll just have to be quick and risk it then. I can't possibly go out in front of the entire world without having showered first. But thank you for the warning."

With that, Weiss grabbed her combat skirt and other clothes from her drawers, then headed into the bathroom. Yang watched her go until the door was completely closed, then meandered back across the room. Blake was just pushing herself up again, instantly awake as her partner approached.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Guess I'm just nervous about today is all."

"That's understandable. But you'll be fine."

Yang's only response was a nod. She then turned to her little sister's bed, where the extra blanket was curtained around the perimeter. She climbed up onto the edge of Weiss' bed, then peered in to tap Ruby's shoulder.

"Hey, sis. Wakey, wakey."

Ruby rolled over, disturbing Zwei as she did so.

"Mmm... eggs and bakey?" she mumbled.

Yang grinned.

"If you get up now, we'll still have plenty of time for breakfast, sure."

"Oh, yay!" Ruby promptly pushed herself up, rubbing her eyes before blindly groping for Zwei and pulling him into her lap. "Oh! And today's the doubles' match! I'm soooo excited!"

With Zwei in her arms, she jumped down off the bed and started darting around the room to gather her clothes. Blake followed suit, albeit much more slowly.

Yang decided to sit on the edge of Blake's bed for a moment and just tried to collect her thoughts. Again, she could feel an unnatural heat on her skin, one she knew for certain wasn't attributed to her semblance at all.

She shook herself off just as the bathroom door opened and Weiss stepped out, a towel around her hair as she padded it dry.

"It's all yours, Blake," she said before turning to her partner for today's match. "And Yang, I don't know what you're talking about. The water seemed just fine to me."

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Yang did her best to be her usual self that morning. And by the time she and Weiss had been called down into the arena, she'd more or less entirely forgotten about the strange nightmare.

Now, she was pumped for their match, eager to claim victory for Beacon and for team RWBY.

As she stretched out her arms, she listened with mild interest as Weiss answered her question about what to expect from their opponents today.

For the most part, she was feeling a lot better than she had been earlier that morning. But there was one thing that made her a bit uneasy.

Their selected battlefield had a large portion of volcanic terrain.

Right now, Yang wasn't all that thrilled about the presence of heat or fire, especially if it wasn't her own.

She took a conscious step away from that side of the arena as Weiss listed off the attributes they should be expecting from their opponents.

Her confident speech about how refined and cunning these people would be was shattered by a gust of wind and a flash of rainbows.

Yang looked them over, admittedly unimpressed, but knowing better than to judge people by appearances.

But as soon as they opened their mouths, she decided she didn't like them anyway.

Of course, the comments about her weight pissed her off, but what made her angriest was the way that boy spoke to Weiss.

As the match began, Yang vowed to focus on thoughts of winning, and not allow her mind to wander back to the strange nightmares.

It worked, but only for the most part.

She engaged in combat with Neon, throwing blazing punches that matched the equally-scathing comments spouting from the Faunus girl's mouth. She stayed focused on her goal, on winning, on claiming victory for team RWBY and for Beacon Academy-

//Bzzzt!//

"Huh...?"

Shocked, the fire momentarily drained from Yang's veins as she turned around.

And her nightmare was right before her eyes.

Bouts of flame and smoke were pluming up all around Weiss, who shrunk and withered beneath them. The flash of red was so quick, but it blotted the heiress out in a split second.

Yang was back in her nightmare.

The wolves were all around her howling, blood splattered the ground, shadows were consuming her, a pair of piercing crimson eyes glowered back at her-

With a short scream, she broke away from the visions, whirling around and all but flying at the people who had done this to Weiss.

From that point on, it was all a blur.

But in a matter of minutes, the buzzers were blaring once again, signifying that her opponents had been defeated.

Yang stood there, panting and fuming amongst the cheering crowds. Her heart clenched as she whipped around and rushed back to Weiss.

She was burnt badly and coughing, so Yang was very gentle in holding her up. Ruby and Blake met her at the heiress' side.

The medics came and took Weiss to the infirmary to be treated, and about half an hour later, Yang found herself sitting next to Blake beside Weiss' bed. Ruby was gabbing away at her partner, recounting just how cool Weiss had looked on the battlefield, while the heiress did her best not to blush in mild flattery.

Yang just needed to reflect on it all.

It hadn't ended the same way her nightmare had. Weiss got hurt, but she was all right now. There was no permanent damage to her lungs or burns on her skin. She was going to make a full recovery in just a few day's time.

Even so, it was... odd. What she'd seen today in the arena had been similar to what she'd seen in her dreams.

Yang shook her head, eyes trained on the floor.

/It's just a coincidence. I mean... what else could it have been?/

A light tap on her shoulder made her jump, only to relax a second later when she realized Blake was looking at her.

"Yang, are you okay?" she wondered, voice low. "Ever since the match ended, you've been kind of... out of it."

"You'd better not be blaming yourself for what happened," Weiss snapped. "I acted on my own accord. You have no reason to feel guilty."

Yang looked from her partner to the heiress to her sister. Ruby's smile was gradually fading as she began to realize something might've been bothering her. But Yang shook her head, dislodging the uncomfortable thoughts in an effort to brush them away for good.

"Sorry, you guys. I'm fine. Just a little tired from today, I guess."

"Understandable," Weiss sighed, leaning back against her pillows. "It was a little chaotic. But it's over for now. We can all have some time to relax before you're sent to the finals."

"She's right!" Ruby piped up. "Maybe once Weiss is discharged we can all go out for a celebratory meal!"

"It may have to wait until tomorrow," Blake reminded her. "But I think that sounds nice."

They all looked to Yang, smiles and kind considerate eyes shining on her. It all but erased the unsettling thoughts.

"Yeah! Sounds good!" A grin split her lips, and she leaned forward, drawing Blake in with one arm, and Weiss with the other. Ruby leaned over the bed to join in.

They all shared a small bout of laughter, relishing the feeling that came along with being teammates to one of the victors to represent their school. Yang could feel just how proud they were of her. It was really a wonderful feeling.

But it didn't last.

Something started prickling at the back of her mind, to the point where it caused her to wince and pull away from the group hug. The others frowned.

"Yang?" Ruby murmured. "Are you okay? You didn't get hurt in the match too, did you?"

"Do you want me to call for a nurse?" Blake offered.

"No... It's fine. Just a headache, I think..." Yang waved them all off with another smile. "I'm just gonna go grab some water. Be right back."

She stood from her chair and stretched her legs out a bit before heading for the door, leaving the other three to continue gushing about today's matches.

Yang left behind the excitable atmosphere for the quieter, more haunting air of the infirmary hallway. Her footsteps echoed as she made her way to a water cooler and pulled out a plastic cup to fill it.

But just before the rim hit her lips, another pang shot through her temple.

And this time, that wasn't the only thing that went through her head.

It was almost like static for a second, creating a dissonance that was discombobulating enough to have her drop the cup as she staggered back against the wall, clutching her head.

"W-What the-?"

And then the static began to change into something else, something more coherent, more familiar.

A voice.

//You've failed... the first test...//

It wasn't her own voice, or her own mind. It wasn't supposed to be in her head. Someone had forced it in somehow.

The intrusion was so horrifyingly realistic, she ended up answering it.

"Get out!"

And as quickly as it had come, the static vanished. There was a residual throbbing both in her skull and in her chest, but the poignant pain and the voice were gone.

Slowly, as if scared it might return, she lowered her hands from either side of her head, staring blankly at her palms.

"The hell...?"

There was no one else in that hallway. No one present that could've spoken to her so clearly without her being able to see them.

/Maybe... I really am losing it.../

Suddenly, she was exhausted, but the thought of returning to her dorm room to sleep didn't really appeal to her. She feared she'd only have more nightmares.

/Shit... not now. Couldn't this have waited till after the tournament or something...?/

Sighing heavily, she crouched down to clean up the cup she'd spilled, activating her semblance just a little to evaporate the water. She composed herself, put the smile back on, then discarded the cup into the trash without ever having taken a sip.

/I don't know what's going on, but it'll be fine./

But as she headed back to the room, her heart didn't feel as confident as her thoughts might've liked her to be.

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A/N: Sorry I basically had to skip over the fight, but we all know how that went and it wasn't the main/important part, so I just fast-forwarded it.