Author's Note: It's here! It's finally here! You guys have waited long enough and I am proud to present the first chapter in Sunshine and Shadows Part II! Keep in mind this story will be grittier, darker, and more violent than Part I.

Rated M for Language, Nudity, Sexuality, Fantasy Violence, Blood and Gore, Alcohol Usage, and Adult Themes.

Trigger Warning: This story contains PTSD, depression, suicidal thoughts and references, allusions and references to rape, and physical/emotional abuse.

Five Years After Cinder's Invasion

Five long years have passed since the woman known as Cinder Fall staged a coup in Vale. Though she failed, the kingdom was shaken to the core. Many students and soldiers lost their lives. However, the very battle that should have torn the kingdom's friendship apart only made it stronger. As Ironwood recovered from his near-death experience, he rallied the remaining Atlas troops, determined to secure the kingdoms once and for all. Ozpin, having been directly responsible for the loss of so many students' lives, stepped down as headmaster. Glynda Goodwitch now presides over the prestigious academy. Qrow, having his old teacher and friend back by his side, set out with Ozpin to hunt down the elusive Raven Branwen and recover the Repository Key.

Each year since the invasion, the Vytal Festival continued to be a beacon of hope, as well as a grim reminder. Each year since the invasion, the prowess of one student in particular continued to grow. Ruby Rose, daughter of Summer Rose, and Vytal Festival Champion for four years in a row, was now famous across the face of Remnant. After graduating, Team RWBY disbanded. Weiss moved back to Atlas, where she took over her grandfather's company. Ruby stayed in Vale, where Weiss planned to move the company headquarters—a new city for the new face of the company. Yang, as well as Ruby, had become a full-time Huntress. She took every job she could get, especially the dangerous ones, anything to distract herself…

Yang awoke to the sound of slamming. She opened her eyes and groaned. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she rubbed the gunk out of her eyes and leaned on her knees. She glared at the clock. 1:00 PM. Dammit. She struggled to get up and stumbled over the piles of dirty clothes that littered the floor. Afternoon light filtered through the old venetian blinds that covered the solitary window of Yang's one-room apartment. She stumbled to the fridge and grabbed a beer. It was half empty before Yang even made it back to her bed.

The Huntress groaned again as the banging returned. "Yang! Open up! It's your sister!" Yang closed her eyes and tried to ignore the noise. The banging intensified and Ruby shouted, "Yang, you know I can bust this door down, so open it before I make a mess!"

A growl burst forth from the blonde's lips and she angrily stood. Taking a final draught from the bottle, she slammed it down on the small end table next to her bed. She stalked over to the door and threw it open. There, dressed all in black, save for the red cloak, stood Ruby. Yang rubbed her eyes again. She still wasn't used to Ruby being the same age as she was. To her, Ruby would always be fifteen. "What do you want?" Yang mumbled.

"Ugh, you stink," was Ruby's non-sequitur reply. Ruby forced her way past Yang and wrinkled her nose at the messy room. "You know, Weiss could hook you up with a hotel room. Or something."

"No. I don't want that ice princess' help," Yang growled. "Now, what do you want? Today is my day off and as much as I'm enjoying this chit-chat, my hangover isn't. So start talking."

Ruby sighed, sadly and picked up an old picture, the only one that adorned the apartment. Ruby was making a face and Weiss was glaring at her. Yang had her arm around Blake and Blake was smiling. She wasn't wearing her bow. Ruby set the picture down and looked up at Yang.

"It's been a year, Yang…"

"Ruby, this is not a thing I'm exactly interested in talking about right now. Or ever." Yang turned and went back to the fridge, grabbing another beer.

"Yang…"

With a ferocious yell, Yang hurled the unopened bottle at the wall, past Ruby's head. To her credit, Ruby didn't flinch. "Get out!" she roared, crimson eyes accompanying flaming hair. Ruby just stood there, concern and sadness written all over her face.

"Weiss and I are concerned about you. And so is Blake."

Yang was in Ruby's face so fast that she almost fell backwards. "Do NOT MENTION THAT BITCH TO ME!" Spit was flying from Yang's mouth and her fist had planted firmly through the wall. Ruby took a step backwards before lunging forward and hugging Yang.

"I love you, sis. Just…be careful, okay? When you're ready to talk, I'm here for you." Ruby planted a kiss on Yang's tear-stained cheek before turning and disappearing in a flash of rose petals.

Yang was alone. She fell to her knees, drywall crumbling into a small pile beside her. Her chest heaved with sobs and the cuts on her wrist burned as painfully as the day she'd inflicted them. She cried and cried, for hours she let loose. Finally, once the sobbing subsided and her body stopped shaking, she felt the familiar hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach. Just try again. What could happen? You'd succeed. Good. Yang reached for the knife she kept in the small drawer of her end table. As her hand bumped her scroll she noticed she had missed a message.

"A job posting," she said aloud. Curiosity got the better of her and she checked the listing.

Help wanted. Grimm Extermination. Massive infestation approaching the outlying village of Seam. Recommended: four person team.

"Heh," she laughed emotionlessly. "Accepted." The tall blonde stood, removed Ember Celica from the drawer, and slammed it shut after eyeing the knife for a long while. "Maybe today will be the day. I'll go out like Summer and live on in history." She laughed again at the absurdity of ever being comparable to a legend like Summer. Yang dressed herself in long black cargo pants, knee-high black combat boots, a yellow tank-top, and a long brown leather duster. She took her aviators and keys from the small shelf by the door and left the apartment.

Yang glared at the black and yellow bike. She used to love the thing, and treated it like her baby. However, ever since Blake left, she'd despised the coloring. Yet she never had it resprayed. She told herself it was because she wanted to remember the good times. She knew it was a lie. Yang didn't respray it because she just didn't care anymore. She lived every day like she hoped it was her last. Who had time to paint a damn motorcycle?

Yang kick-started the beast and reached for the helmet. She stared at herself in the reflection. The bags under her eyes were accompanied by a long scar snaking from her left ear to her chin. She looked like hell. Yang laughed dryly and tossed the helmet aside before rocketing out of the parking structure.

Ruby watched the yellow flash accelerate away and hung her head. A small beep and several vibrations alerted her to a call and she flipped open her scroll. "Hey, baby," she answered. "No, I just visited her. No, she's not okay. Don't tell Blake, but she has more scars. I just wish I knew what to do. She won't listen to me. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Alright. Yeah. I love you too, baby. Bye."

The black-and-red clad woman closed her scroll and stuffed it in one of her grey pouches. She checked once more to see if Crescent Rose was firmly attached to her belt before concentrating her aura on every part of her body at once. With a flash, she vanished.

Behind the roaring motorcycle, every few miles, a pile of rose petals appeared.

Yang reached the village of Seam a little before nightfall. As she strode through the village, she was greeted by closing doors and scared looks from the window. The berserker merely shrugged and continued on to the central building. Despite the Four Kingdoms' many advanced, some of the outlying villages suffered economically, and were often poor, run-down slums cobbled together with tin plating and plywood. Seam was lucky enough to have a small, wooden wall surrounding it. However, the wall, along with the log cabins and adobe-brick buildings had a slim chance of ever repelling a Grimm attack.

An old man appeared at the entrance of the central building and ushered Yang inside. He escorted her to a small room filled only with a fireplace and a small square table. An old woman and a young man with a cast around his leg were the only other occupants of the room. Yang took a seat and the old man cleared his throat. "Hello. I take it you're Miss Xiao Long?"

"Yes," was Yang's curt reply.

"Ah, I see. Good, good. I'm Warren and this is my wife, Jade. We run this town. Until recently, Ethen here was our resident Hunter." Ethen waved meekly. "He graduated from Fortress Academy in Vacuo. He moved her a while ago and had defended us ever since. Unfortunately, yesterday, he was injured and we have no other line of defense. We have word that a large pack of beowolves are headed our way. We hope that you can deal with them first."

Yang nodded, barely listening.

"You won't have to stick around afterwords. All we ask is that you clear out a ten-mile radius from the village. Enough to give us some breathing room." Jade spoke softly, her voice old and raspy.

"We'll pay you, of course," said Warren.

Yang sighed and stood. "No. I don't need payment." She cracked her knuckles and neck before turning around and starting for the door.

"But, Miss…!" Warren called after her.

Yang was already out the door, leaving a very befuddled old couple and a smitten young Hunter behind.

Yang stood in the middle of the gateway. Ember Celica was cocked and loaded. Soft thunder rumbled in the distance and a raindrop fell onto Yang's face. She held her head skyward as the soft precipitation started rolling in. Her hair matted and slicked as the rain soaked through to her very core. She wished that she was like the wicked witch in the stories that Summer had told her as a child, and that the rain would just cause her to melt away.

The howl of a beowolf was nearly drowned out by what had now become a full downpour. Yang unbuttoned her duster and began to stretch. The howling drew closer and closer, drawn by the fear of the villagers behind her. Red eyes pierced the night and Yang suddenly found herself standing on a rooftop. Blake was behind her, screaming something. In front of her stood the monster that had been Blake's old mentor and ex-fiancé. Yang screamed and ran forward, punching those piercing, glowing red eyes. A beowolf yelped and flew backwards into a tree. Yang snapped back to reality and grimaced. The flashbacks still haunted her. She could only imagine how they haunted Blake.

Blake.

With crimson eyes and a newfound fury, Yang recklessly charged headfirst into the beowolf pack. The alpha, a large stark-white beowolf, hung back, letting his pack attack first. They didn't attack all at once, at first; instead they circled around, lunging occasionally. Yang punched any that came near, but she kept her blows light. With a howl, the omega led the entire pack, save the alpha, beta, and gamma, into a ferocious charge. Yang laughed as the beowolves bit into her. Their claws sank deep and her skin tore easily. Yang kept laughing until the beowolves backed off, confused.

"Is that all you've got?" came Yang's low growl. "I was hoping for more." With a flash of fire, the wounds sealed up and Yang stood tall once more. She sprinted at the omega and grabbed its arms. With almost no effort, she ripped them clean from its body and started beating it to death.

Black blood splattered over Yang, sizzling and burning her skin as it evaporated. The other beowolves turned to the alpha, who yipped a command. The pack charged once more and Yang became a frenzy of fire and blows. As she decimated the pack, she began laughing once more. The sound echoed over the heavy rain. Soon, Yang realized her mistake. This was not the full pack. The alpha almost seemed to grin and Yang frowned. Suddenly, she felt teeth and claws bite into her back. Six beowolves grabbed her from behind—three to each arm, with an additional four pinning her legs down. She struggled against the beasts, but the strength sapped from her limbs. This was what she had been looking for. Why fight it?

Yang let herself relax and turned her gaze skyward. "Finally."

The alpha snarled and Yang felt the teeth bit harder into her flesh, chipping bone. Yang smiled. The alpha snarled again and the wolves began to tug at her limbs. She felt the muscle straining and stretching. As her arms began to pop out of their sockets and her muscles began to tear, Yang began to laugh once more. She laughed and laughed. Even as the alpha disappeared in a puff of rose petals, still Yang laughed.

Within moments, the entire pack was eradicated and Yang knelt in the mud, her arms dangling uselessly at her sides, and she still laughed.

"Yang! What the fuck is wrong with you!?" came Ruby's harsh voice.

Yang barely heard it. She was lost in the throes of ecstatic pain. She was unconscious before her head hit the mud.

The bite and claw marks were already starting to heal.

Author's Note II: I apologize for the cliffhanger, there. Truly sorry about that. The emotional distress that some of you will undoubtedly suffer? Not so sorry. Five years is a long time. That said, don't worry too much. As with the first part, the title rings true. You can't have Sunshine without Shadow and vice-versa. This story will be a happy one. But the happiest stories start from the darkest places.

I hope you have enjoyed this first chapter. I know it's short, a lot shorter than I wanted, but it's nearly 4 AM and I have to be up in five hours. I thank you all so much for your patience and encouragement. I love you all. See you in the next part!

Next Time: Heart to Heart