Takes place after volume 3, episode 6.

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

Chains

What the hell is this...?

She couldn't move.

Not so much because she was stunned, but rather because of the fact that she'd been circled by armed military guards.

Like some kind of criminal.

"What the hell...?"

She said as much, but her voice was thin, draining of energy as her gaze went up to the screens once again.

She couldn't look away.

The scenes they were displaying confused and infuriated her all at the same time.

What the hell?!

How could this be happening? What kind of sick joke was this?

It didn't feel real, or at least it hadn't until she'd turned around to find ten guns in her face.

The crowds that had been raving for her victory just a moment ago were now throwing disgusted curses at her. All of their faces were ones of fear, outrage, disbelief...

But she couldn't even spare the time to be concerned with the others.

As she tore her eyes away, they immediately found three familiar faces.

Those hurt most of all.

She could hear Blake's heart breaking.

She could see Weiss'.

And she could feel Ruby's.

Yang slammed a palm to her mouth as a wave of nausea hit her. Mercury's screams and Emerald's accusatory glares were striking at her back, and the shouts and curses of the crowd were bombarding her from all sides.

But the expressions of her teammates were piercing through her heart.

And she started to doubt herself.

What if she had attacked him for no reason? What if that kick had all just been in her head? What if she'd gotten so caught up in the victory that she'd taken things too far?

She didn't know what to believe anymore.

How could she ever face her teammates again?

She knew what the looks in their eyes meant.

Perhaps Mercury's unprovoked attack had all been in her head.

But her own attack hadn't been.

That much was for certain.

How was she... supposed to look at them now?

How was she supposed to support Blake?

How was she supposed to help Weiss?

How was she supposed to call herself Ruby's big sister?

How was she supposed to do anything now?

The dread was gripping her heart so tightly now.

It started to crush her from the inside out.

They couldn't believe it.

No one could.

There was no way that had just happened.

One moment, Yang had been presenting the audience with her trademark smirk and a fist-pump of triumph. Innocent gestures, sparkling eyes.

And then she'd just... snapped. Turned on the boy and assaulted him for no good reason.

Blake could barely breathe.

Her jaw hung open. Dismay clogged her lungs.

She'd seen this before. All of it.

She'd seen a partner go berserk before. Seen them hurt people for no reason at all. Seen them lose in a second everything the two of them had ever found together.

She'd seen this before. Felt it before.

This utter dismay. This betrayal of trust.

She'd come to accept what Adam had done. After years upon years of torment.

But she'd never expected to see it again.

Not with Yang.

Not Yang...

. . .

Weiss couldn't believe it.

It was all she could do to try and cover her mouth, to keep the shriek of terror down.

Her chest felt tight. Painfully so.

This was the girl who had just fought a match with her. Who'd jumped in immediately to defend her, both verbally and physically.

This was the girl who'd just called out her name in fear when she'd thought she'd been hurt. The girl who'd cradled her so gently in her arms. The girl who'd asked her what most other people in her life never cared to ask – if she was okay.

The girl who'd planned the dance with her. Who'd playfully bickered with her about her selection of decorations.

Who'd been her big sister when Winter couldn't be there...

. . .

And Ruby.

Ruby couldn't...

She just couldn't do anything.

Nothing in her brain or body seemed to be functioning right now.

It all just shook her to the core.

She wasn't even aware of when her hands had reached her face.

Everything was numb.

She couldn't even feel her heart.

She couldn't feel anything.

She could only see.

See Yang.

See her big sister attacking someone for no reason at all.

It was beyond her comprehension.

Yang had never – would never – attack anything – anyone – without reason.

She'd expect that from Uncle Qrow when he'd had too much to drink. She'd expect that from her father when he'd been upset.

But not... not Yang.

Never Yang.

This was her big sister.

The sister who had been by her side since the moment she'd been born.

The sister who had played with her every day of her life.

The sister who had read her her favorite bedtime stories.

The sister who had climbed into bed with her on stormy nights until she'd stopped crying.

The sister who had made the pain lessen when her mother had stopped coming home.

The sister who had come to Beacon with her.

The sister who had helped her learn, grow, and make friends.

The sister who had always been supporting her, through thick and thin, no matter what.

The sister who had always been there.

The sister who was her everything.

She couldn't move.

Even after the shock had passed over Blake and Weiss and they'd shot to their feet, Ruby couldn't move.

Blake nearly fell to her knees with how badly her legs were shaking as she frantically tried to get past Weiss.

"I've- I've got to talk to her. I've got to-"

But even in this horrible, heartbreaking situation, Weiss forced herself to keep control. She grabbed Blake's wrist and pulled her back.

"Wait... You can't-"

"Weiss, I-!" She whipped around, tears already threatening to fall. "I have to..."

"Blake, look at her. They've got her surrounded. They'd never let us-"

"But we've got to try!" Blake shouted. "If we don't try... if we don't even try... then nothing will happen!"

She tried to wrench herself free, but Weiss held fast to her.

"Blake, just wait a second!" she screamed. "Just... Just wait..."

It was Weiss' turn to beg, and Blake followed the heiress' gaze.

Ruby was still in her seat, unmoving. Still shocked. Shaken to the core.

It was so much worse for her.

Blake and Weiss had both experienced betrayal before, on one level or another.

But this was the first time for Ruby.

And it was her own sister.

Yang had always been there for her.

And now...

Now...

Weiss and Blake crouched down to either side of her, sharing panicked glances.

They didn't know what to do. They didn't know what they could do.

But they had to do something.

Before Yang was herded out of the arena like some rabid animal.

Weiss didn't touch her, but though her voice was ridden with tension, she kept it low.

"Ruby...? Ruby, please-"

But her partner shook her head, slowly, still in shock.

"No..." she whimpered. "No... not Yang... n-not my Yang..."

It broke their hearts.

Even more so than seeing Yang attack someone like that, seeing Ruby like this was a different kind of agony.

Blake wiped a hand over her face and spoke to her.

"Ruby, we'll figure out what happened. She... she must've had a reason-"

"N-No..." Ruby pulled her legs up off the ground and drew them to her chest. She pulled her hood up over her head and rocked back and forth in her seat. "No... no... nonono... Not Yang..."

Weiss and Blake shared another agonized look, then glanced back to the arena. Yang was still trying to explain things to the guards, but they were gradually forcing her to walk off.

Weiss' composure was shattering by the second.

"Ruby, if you want to go to her, you've got to go now."

A shudder went through the girl as she clung tighter to her legs.

"N-No... I'm scared..."

Her teammates were silent.

Weiss needed to turn her face away, hiding her expression behind her hand.

Blake made herself reach out slowly, daring to touch Ruby's shoulder.

"You're... scared of Yang?"

Her prompting question was what seemed to wake Ruby up.

"No! ...I'm s-scared... for her... What... What are they doing to h-her? Wuh-where are they t-taking her? Y-Yang!"

In an instant, she jumped out of her seat, the hood of her cloak falling back down. She pushed past Weiss and Blake and ran.

Just ran.

The adrenaline was pumping through her so thickly she didn't even feel all the aching and all the numbness and all the trembling going on in her body.

She jumped down steps and over railings and down, down, until she was in the arena.

Her startled teammates raced after her, calling for her to come back, but she didn't listen.

Or maybe she just couldn't hear.

Just like she couldn't feel anything at all.

She bolted towards where the guards had surrounded her sister, vaguely aware of the sets of footsteps following close behind her.

Ruby hardly even saw the guards. She'd planned to run right through them, to not stop until she'd reached her-

"Yang!"

"Halt!"

"Ruby, no-"

"Stop!"

As the nearest guard turned on her, Ruby felt herself being dragged back as Weiss and Blake caught up to her. She struggled against them, wrestling with all her might.

"Let me go!"

"Ruby, just wait a minute!"

"They've got to let us talk to her, but right now we can't-"

"I don't care!" she screamed. "I don't care what we can or can't do or what they will or won't let us do just lemme see Yang! She's my sister! She's all I have left, okay?!"

It was all she could think to say.

She knew she still had Weiss and Blake and all of her friends, her father and Zwei and her professors...

But she only had one sister.

Gasping and sobbing, she wrung herself free of their grips.

To Yang, it was the worst kind of situation.

Even worse than what had just happened in front of the entire world.

There was relief.

So much relief.

She'd feared Ruby might not even want to see her ever again after what she'd just done.

Yang was beyond relieved to see that she'd chosen this.

To come running to her.

To try and reach her...

But the fear was so much worse.

The guards pointed their guns at her to keep her back.

They pointed them at her little sister.

Yang felt a new surge of fury rise up in her.

This wasn't the fury of seeing Mercury's attack – if that had even been real.

This wasn't the fury of no one believing her, nor was it the fury that came with the doubt that maybe she'd been the one in the wrong.

This was the fury that someone was pointing a gun at her baby sister.

"NO!"

A torrid heat engulfed her, igniting sparks in her hair and in her heart, her eyes running blood-red. She sent a terrified look at her teammates, to Weiss and to Blake.

"No! Don't let her come! Ruby, stay back!"

"Yang-!"

"Ruby, stop!"

But Ruby tried to rush forward again. Weiss and Blake had to lunge to grab her.

Yang could see the fear in their eyes so clearly as they met her gaze. She saw their tears and confusion just as easily as she felt her own.

Yang sobbed, though her lips cracked a smile.

A broken, broken smile.

"I don't..." she croaked. "I don't know... I don't know what's wrong with me..."

"Nothing!" Ruby screamed, still thrashing. "Yang, I know there's nothing wrong with you! I know you-you didn't do that! You didn't mean to o-or you had a good reason! I know it, Yang! You... You had to..."

She sounded as though she was trying to convince herself of her own words.

And Yang couldn't blame her sister.

She couldn't even remember if Mercury had really attacked her or not. It'd probably all just been in her head.

She'd gone too far.

So she took a step back.

Blinking more tears away, she met Weiss' and Blake's eyes in turn.

"I'm... I'm sorry. Just... keep her safe, okay...? I'm... I'm too dangerous..."

"YANG, NO!"

"RUBY, JUST-! … Just stay away from me!" she screamed. "Don't come near me! What if I hurt you, too?"

"You won't!" she cried. "You never would! You'd never hurt anyone!"

"I just did! And I can't afford to hurt you, too, damn it!" Her semblance flared up once again, and a stifling heat engulfed the air. "Just... JUST STAY BACK!"

"Yang-!"

Ruby tried to run forward again.

Yang watched as Blake and Weiss only just barely managed to yank her away from the guards.

Again.

There was a gun pointed at her baby sister again.

"NO-"

With a roar of absolute fury, Yang stepped forward.

Not to attack the guard. But to pull him away.

So she could take Ruby into her arms.

She wanted to.

So badly.

But then there was an awful pain in her side.

Electricity shot through her as the taser was rammed into her ribcage.

She crashed to her knees, gasping and choking.

The tears kept streaming down.

She heard them all scream her name.

But she couldn't see, couldn't feel...

Everything slipped away.

Everything but the pain and the fear.

A/N: None of us are okay after that.

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