Author's Note

More detail is given on Yang's death than probably anybody else's, but I will restate that the exact way in which she dies isn't really the important part. It's the reactions to her death that I'm really going for. After all, there is a reason why I named the story what I did.

I'm actually not sure if I've seen a Yang death fic yet. There's plenty of Ruby and Weiss, I've seen one or two for Blake, and of course I've written all three. Have not seen any for Yang though. I'm sure there's got to be one out there, but oh well, here's one of mine instead. Have some more death, there can never be enough angst in this fandom.

Yang pushed herself to run as fast as she could, ignoring the burning feeling in her limbs and lungs. Her mind felt sluggish, thoughts stilted, and stunted. Still though, the sense of urgency she felt forced her to run because things had gone wrong, so very wrong so fast.

It was only supposed to be a simple mission. A minor Grimm infestation near a small town. Nothing too big, perhaps a Death Stalker or two at most, nothing they couldn't handle. They even had a second team sent along with them as backup. This was supposed to be easy.

When they had gotten there things had gone smoothly at first. Everything went exactly according to plan. They had found and exterminated the Grimm with ease, they thought their mission completed. But then more had come.

More and more, it had become an onslaught. They had gotten separated from the other team fairly early on, pushed away from each other by some of the larger monsters. As the flow of Grimm finally began to ebb, the true reason for their numbers showed themselves. Roman, Cinder, and the rest of their wonderful little gang.

They revealed that the Grimm had been under their directions the under time. Not under their direct control or instruction of course, none could claim to truly control the Grimm. But rather guided, corralled, and herded, it was possible to point the soulless creatures where they had wanted, as attack dogs of sorts.

So despite already being exhausted, this was not an issue they could ignore, and Team RWBY had quickly entered yet another battle. Their enemies were smart though, and knew that the teamwork between the four huntresses surpassed that of their own. They were a group of people who tended not to get along with others, and thus preferred to fight alone. Thus they immediately sought to separate them as individual battles would work more in their favour.

In a stroke of luck Yang had managed to win her fight far faster than she should have, but that wasn't what was on her mind right now. Ruby had easily been the most tired of all of them, always taking point against any of the larger Grimm they had taken down earlier. Furthermore her opponent ended up being Cinder herself, easily the strongest of their enemies here today. Yang didn't care how much Ruby had grown over the past few years, she wasn't sure she strong enough to take on Cinder by herself yet, especially not in her current condition.

Clearing the crest of another hill Yang was relieved to see the sight of her little sister further ahead. Ruby was obviously spent, slumped over and leaning upon Crescent Rose. To her great surprise and delight though, Ruby's opponent was in a worse state, face down upon the ground behind her. Breaking out into a smile Yang raised her hand in a wave to congratulate Ruby. But before she could utter a word, something caught her eye.

Something was wrong. Cinder wasn't as beaten as she first appeared. The lines across her body still glowed with power and even now she was propping herself up, a swirling ball of flame and shards of earth already prepared in her hands. Ruby wouldn't survive such an attack, not with her aura so low. Nor would she be able to dodge in time with a warning, Cinder was too close to miss against such a sluggish target. There was only one choice.

No hesitation.

Snapping her hands back Yang fired Ember Celica, the recoil launching her off the ground. Too slow, the fireball was already racing through the air. Continuously she kept on firing without pause, sending herself flying forward faster and faster with each shot, as fast as she could possibly manage. Ruby's face had turned to look at the approaching conflagration, eyes widening in horror as she felt the searing heat already upon her skin. It was a race between the two, to see which would reach her first. Clenching her teeth Yang's eyes flashed red as she surged forward with a final blast from her shot gauntlets.

No reservations.

It was only an instant, but an instant was all she needed, Yang had gotten there first. Forcefully crashing into Ruby with her body the younger sister was thrown aside. The impact though had robbed her of all momentum, and she had no more time. The flames descended upon Yang a moment later. Golden aura flared for a second, feebly attempting to push it back for the briefest of moments. But it was not enough, she was already too drained. The blazing inferno rushed forward. A final soft smile appeared on her face, content.

No regrets.

Fire consumed her body, and her world burned.

The other two members of Team RWBY had the same idea as Yang evidently. After beating their opponents they too immediately went towards Ruby. Blake seemed to be in the best condition between the two, only a few minor marks upon her and still enough energy to run. Weiss while not having spent too much of her aura took more than a few hits, her clothes more red than white in some parts.

Blake arrived first, with Weiss arriving seconds after from a different direction. The scene the two came upon was grim. They had arrived only a few moments too late. Ruby was collapsed in an unconscious heap to the side with her weapon and Cinder was already struggling to her feet. But the real object of their attention was Yang, lying amidst a scorched circle of debris. The smell of burnt flesh turned their stomachs.

"Take them and go," Blake said to Weiss. Her voice was unnervingly cool, almost frosty. "Now!" she demanded cutting off the other girl's protest. Weiss only hesitated a moment to spare Blake a glance as the raven haired girl moved to engage Cinder before heading towards Yang.

Weiss's immediate instincts were to go for her partner first, but priorities were priorities. Ruby looked like she could wait, Yang needed attention now. Skidding to a stop next to her fallen teammate it took all of her will not to throw up. The charred scent coming from Yang's body was overpowering.

Hesitantly Weiss reached out and gently flipped Yang over onto her back. There was no restraining the gasp that escaped her lips. "Oh god, Yang..."

It was far worse than it had appeared from behind. Most of the blonde's clothing had been either burned away or melted and charred into her skin itself. All across the front of Yang's torso was blackened and cracking flesh, the devastation covering most of her body and arms, even parts of her face. Most of what wasn't charcoal black was an almost as terrible looking angry scarlet. That may have been the lesser of her worries for the moment though.

As typical of Cinder, her attacks included shrapnel in addition to the fire. Twisted and sharpened shrapnel which was now embedded all throughout Yang. From some of the more open wounds it appeared that some pieces had torn their way across or through her rather than sticking into her flesh. The only minor consolation was that the heat involved in the attack had cauterized any wounds, staunching the bleeding.

Still though, it was a miracle she was still breathing, as strained as it may have been.

She didn't have a lot of options available to her now. Yang needed immediate medical attention, attention she couldn't provide. The most she could do right now was a stopgap measure at most. Concentrating on her aura Weiss held out a palm towards Yang, as she focused a glyph appeared. Carefully she applied a layer of ice across her teammate's body. It would keep things such as blood on the inside where they were supposed to be, lower the temperature around the burns, and hopefully the aura infused ice would help Yang to hang on a little bit longer. This was something she had already done to some of her own injuries prior to her arrival here.

Carefully she hoisted Yang onto her back and summoned up another glyph to glide towards Ruby as she heard Blake's fight begin with Cinder. Carefully balancing Yang on her back Weiss scooped up Ruby in her arms before gliding back, taking them safely away from the range of the fight.

In a hurried rush she checked over her partner's body as quickly as she could. Ruby was injured, and although some looked serious, none appeared life threatening. Quickly Weiss did the same as she had for Yang, applying ice to cover the cuts and burns in lieu of bandages which she did not have. She spared a moment to glance towards the battle. Blake was winning.

Laying Ruby down carefully Weiss readjusted Yang on her back. Ruby would survive, she could trust that Blake would bring her back after winning. Taking Ruby along with her would only slow her down and waste valuable time. Time Yang didn't have.

Gathering her aura she pushed herself forward in another burst of speed towards the town. Step after step the bloodied girl felt her remaining stamina and aura dwindling. She couldn't afford to slow down though, she had to keep going. Yang's continually shallower and shallower breaths only increased the urgency of the situation.

Weiss Schnee was not a stupid girl. Somewhere within her mind she knew, she had to have known. The wounds were simply too severe. Even if Yang managed to make it to the hospital, it was only a matter of a time until the inevitable.

"Come on Yang, you're better than this," Weiss said to herself through gritted teeth. "You'll make it through this." Her words didn't quite match the stinging she felt in her eyes.

Blake breathed heavily as she landed in a back step after another clash with Cinder. She was tired, she was burnt, and breathing heavily. But she was winning. Her opponent was clearly the worst off of the two from the last blow, clutching a bleeding cut to her side.

Cinder was already on the losing end of her fight with Ruby earlier, most of her energy had been spent then. What little she had left was used up in an attempt to finish off or incapacitate Ruby so that she could beat a hasty retreat before the others showed up. Clearly Cinder had not counted on the rest of Team RWBY being so quick. Comparatively Blake was much more fresh, and her attacks were fuelled by a cold fury.

The fire witch crashed to the ground from another blow dealt by Blake. Narrowly she rolled aside avoiding being skewered by Gambol Shroud. Springing to her feet she forced back the faunus with another jet of flames drawing a snarl from the younger woman.

"My my, such anger," taunted Cinder. Never let it be said that she was easily rattled, even while on the losing end of a fight. "Is it because of what I did to your teammate?" Blake snarled and threw her weapon by the attached ribbon once again, which was blasted aside by a burst of flame. "You could have gone with them you know. I wouldn't have stopped you."

"And just leave you alone, at our backs and free to hurt somebody else?" grunted Blake dodging another blast of fire. She noted that they were growing more feeble as the battle wore on. "I'll stop you here first. It's what Yang would have wanted."

"You talk like she's already dead," Cinder noted with a smirk. "Of course while I intended to hit the little girl, big sister took a direct hit instead." Her tone was now distinctly mocking. Another narrow miss, Blake only managing to deal her a small cut to the cheek with her latest attempt. "You should have gone with them to say your final goodbyes. I'm sure that someone like you could tell that even with immediate treatment that poor fool is going to die."

"SHUT UP!" Blake roared. "You bitch!" The raven haired girl lashed out again, throwing her blade in sickle form directly at her enemy's face. The witch managed to dodge, smirking at her, but that was quickly wiped off her face when Blake reappeared in front of her making contact with a nasty left hook. Cinder wasted no time in reasserting space between them with her powers.

"What's wrong?" taunted Cinder with her sickly yellow eyes glowing balefully. "My my, I must have struck a nerve. You know I'm right." Her lips twisted into a cruel sneer. "You had the little Schnee princess take her away instead of doing it yourself. You know that she won't make it, even if they do reach the hospital before she croaks. Were you simply too cowardly to be there when she finally expires?"

Gritting her teeth Blake refused to respond as she traded another series of attacks with Cinder. She had nothing to say to somebody like her. Not with what she had done.

"Little kitty cat already missing her master already?" With practically every word coming out of the criminal's mouth, Blake's attacks grew in intensity and ferocity. Normally in a battle between skilled combatants losing one's calm and giving in to rage was a bad idea. In this case though, as Blake's attacks became more and more fuelled by her rage, Cinder simply lacked the stamina to keep up.

It was inevitable. A misstep on Cinder's part now resulted in her being cast once more to the ground with Blake's foot atop her chest and Gambol Shroud levelled at her face. "It's over."

Burning yellow eyes stared back amused at the weapon pointed at her. "So what now? Are you going to kill me?" There were no witnesses, and after what Cinder had already done, nobody would question the legitimacy of self defence. Nobody would blame Blake if that was what she chose to do. For a woman potentially staring death right in the face Cinder seemed remarkably unconcerned. "You spoke of what blondey would have wanted. Is this what you think she would have wanted?"

"No. Yang wouldn't have wanted this," Blake admitted, her voice cold. "But, it's what I want." Cinder looked at her for a moment, face blank, before breaking out into a mad cackle, as if she had just heard a joke rather than a death sentence.

A single sharp sound interrupted the laughter, and silence descended.

Her body ached dully everywhere. Fingers twitched as she tried to move. Her muscles felt stiff, like every fibre of her being had been coated in cement. Opening her eyes, Ruby Rose awoke.

"Ah, Miss Rose, awake at last I see."

Struggling to a seated position Ruby saw who it was that had spoken. "Professor Ozpin?" Standing near the doorway was the headmaster of Beacon Academy, cane in hand. It appeared he had either just been entering or about to leave.

"You are in the Vale General Hospital. Your team was airlifted in last night, after completing your mission," he said answering the unspoken question.

"My team!?" Ruby asked alarmed springing up instantly. They had required an air transport right to the hospital? Looking around her she saw Weiss and Blake on the beds to either of her sides. They looked banged up, probably about as much as her, but otherwise okay. But where was Yang?

Desperately she wracked her memory for the last moments before she fell unconscious. A wall of fire filling her vision, bearing down upon her. A flash of gold. Yang. And she was thrown aside.

A feeling of dread pooled in the bottom of Ruby's stomach.

"...Where's Yang?" When the headmaster paused to look at her instead of answering immediately the feeling of urgency and panic rose within her. "Where's Yang!?"

"...I am sorry Miss Rose. Truly, I am." Ruby could see the pity in Ozpin's eyes, and her panic turned into anger. Sorry? What was he sorry for?

"Where is Yang! Where is my sister!?" she demanded angrily, straining herself upwards in her bed. She wasn't in the room. Could she be somewhere else in the hospital? The ICU perhaps?

"I am afraid her injuries were simply too severe," Ozpin explained regretfully. "Miss Xiao Long didn't-"

"You're lying!" Ruby screamed interrupting him as she began thrashing about in her bed. "That's impossible! There's no way!" He couldn't have meant what she thought he meant. Ruby had understood what he was leading to, what he was going to say next. But surely the headmaster had to be wrong. He had to.

"Miss Rose, please-" said Ozpin trying to placate the distressed girl.

"No! Yang wouldn't- she wouldn't just-" Ruby's body began to shake. "Yang, she said, she- she promised..."

"For what it's worth, you have my condolences once again," Ozpin repeated. "But for now, it is perhaps best you sleep." He stepped forward towards her.

"But I-!" Ruby tried to protest at first, but reaching out the Headmaster tapped her upon the head. Immediately she felt a deep tiredness overcome her. "Yang..."

There hadn't been a funeral. Yang's father had opted for a more private ceremony, prompt and immediate. They had still been recuperating in the hospital when her partner had been cremated.

Cremation, how morbidly appropriate. Yang had always burned with such fire in life, both figuratively, and sometimes literally. Fire had also been how she met her end, courtesy of Cinder. It seemed that even after death, the two were still intrinsically linked.

Blake hissed as one of the Beowolves got in a lucky shot, scoring a long claw mark across her forearm. Scowling she flipped backwards away from it's next strike. Pulling the trigger on her weapon she shot it in the chest, a painful but not debilitating wound. With a flick of her wrist she altered Gambol Shroud's to it's sickle form, throwing it forward with another burst of gunfire as she landed. Cutting through her first opponent, a tug of the ribbon sent her blade slicing through a second.

Scenes like this seemed to occur almost every other night in the Emerald Forest recently. Blake could only stand spending so much time in Beacon's halls lately. The rest of her time was spent fighting the Grimm.

Sidestep. A swing of her sheath removed the offending limb. A quick followup by her blade left the Beowolf with more to worry about than a missing arm as it was now without a head as well.

It was better like this, losing herself to the fight. Methodical, yet brutal. She didn't have to think.

An Ursa charged out of the bush slamming into her with a roar. With a cry Blake was thrown back, slamming into a tree. A mighty swing of it's arm shattered the tree's trunk sending splinters into the air, but the image of it's target merely faded away like a ghost. Already behind the Ursa Blake rammed Gambol Shroud into its back, severing its spine instantly.

It was easier for Blake to focus on the pain from the injuries she received, they were something she was used to after all. The pain she felt inside was a different matter entirely.

Ripping her weapon back out of the dying Grimm Blake paused for a moment to catch her breath. Making sure to keep her attention on her surroundings the faunus eyed the creatures around her. Many were becoming wary of the being in their midst that had killed so many of them. Still though, Blake tried not to show any signs of weakness. She kept her breathing deep but steady. One particularly large Beowolf eventually managed to muster up enough guts to leap out at her.

It was different when she was with Yang. She had felt lighter, happier. The blonde had often had such an effect on many people. When Yang was around, it was like the troubles of the world ceased to matter. Something about her demeanour just had the tendency to bring out the best in people.

The Beowolf didn't stand a chance. Blurring into motion Blake and Gambol Shroud made quick work of it. As she touched down upon the ground behind her opponent, the Beowolf fell to pieces.

But what was it that she did the moment Yang wasn't around? She had killed. She knew, she knew that Yang wouldn't have wanted that for her. Would never have wanted Blake to do what she did for her sake. But she didn't care. She wanted revenge.

Looking up Blake saw the rest of the Grimm scattering. They had had enough for tonight. Littered around the clearing were bodies upon bodies, an innumerable number of Grimm in an even larger number of pieces.

Brutal and bloodthirsty. A killer. Without Yang, this is all that was left. The truth of what she was.

"Just another monster."

"Ruby, please open this door." Weiss's words were met with only silence.

The team's leader had locked herself into her room once again. This was becoming an exceedingly common occurrence. Ruby spent more time alone in her room these days than outside of it.

It was disturbing to see the once cheerful girl so forlorn, but not entirely unexpected given the events. At first Weiss had given her space, time to work things out on her own and come to terms with what had happened. She had needed some time herself after all. In the days afterwards, all she could think about was that long run back to town with Yang on her back. What if she had been a little bit faster, what if she had pushed herself a little bit harder, what if she knew a little more about healing, would Yang have survived? What if she had been a better fighter, if she had won her fight faster, could she have prevented her from having to take the blow for Ruby in the first place? What if, what if.

But the truth, the truth that Weiss had eventually forced herself to accept was that it wasn't her fault. Yang had been her friend, but now she was dead. It hurt, by the gods did it hurt, and still hurt, but she was a Schnee, she couldn't lose her head so easily. She had priorities. Yang was dead, but her other two teammates still lived, and truthfully, both had been much closer to Yang than her. And as such, they had both taken her death much, much harder than her.

Priorities, always priorities. Her own feelings right now were insignificant in comparison to the pain of Ruby and Blake. Weiss was a Schnee, she was strong. She could afford to put off her own feelings until later. Right now, her friends came first.

"Ruby?"

At first, Blake had been the more immediate concern for her. The faunus girl had taken Yang's death badly. Her disposition had gone from aloof, to cold, as if any warmth she may have had before had been sucked out with the loss of her friend. Many nights she would come back bloody and bruised, clear evidences of a fight. Weiss would know, she was the one that had to bandage her wounds more than once. She had almost had a heart attack the first time she had caught her teammate coming back late covered in blood. But Blake had refused to talk then, even tried to refuse help, as she had every time afterwards. Weiss practically had to tie the other girl down the times she had tended to her.

Weiss suspected that Blake was out fighting Grimm, drowning her grief in violence. It made the most sense, she didn't think the other girl would be out fighting other people. She had tried to follow her teammate once or twice to see where she had gone. The thought of her fighting dangerous creatures alone, constantly getting injured with the potential for even worse, for death, had her terrified beyond words. She had already lost one friend already, she was not prepared to lose another. But Blake was nothing if not elusive when she wanted to be, and Weiss's attempts only made the other girl pull further away from her, so she stopped.

It was easy to see why Weiss had been more concerned with Blake at first than the quiet Ruby who was comparatively staying out of trouble.

"Ruby. I brought you your dinner." Left without mention was the already existing plate outside Ruby's door. Her lunch. Cold and untouched.

Ruby became quiet, too quiet. That was the problem. She wasn't actively getting into trouble because she wasn't doing much of anything at this point. Ruby never spoke up on her own anymore, and her answers were always short and clipped, when she even bothered to answer anyway. She barely attended class, though the teachers could hardly fault her given the circumstances. Once she had always loved being around other people, enjoying herself with friends. Now she spent all her time alone, actively avoiding contact with all others.

"...She wouldn't have wanted this you know." There was no need to clarify who 'she' was. They both knew who Weiss meant. "You were precious to her, so precious." Yang had loved her little sister, anybody who knew them could see that. And in the end, she gave her life to protect her. Yang was a touchy topic these days, and Weiss took care when approaching the topic.

She barely ate, and from the rings around her eyes on the rare occasions Weiss managed to see her, it looked like the girl didn't get much sleep either. Weiss had spied on her a few times before, from the window outside her room. She had also followed her teammate on the rare trips she took outside. But Ruby never did anything. The red cloaked girl just sat in a heartbreaking silence. Ruby was simply wasting away, if not for Weiss forcing her to take care of herself, it's entire possible she might already be back in a hospital having her bodily functions be attended by tubes and machines since she didn't seem to care enough to do it herself.

"I know you're hurting. And I know you blame yourself, that's just how you are," Weiss whispered. It really was true, Ruby had a habit of shouldering blame, burdens, and responsibilities that were not hers. "But she wouldn't have blamed you. You know that. I don't blame you, nor does Blake." No, Blake wouldn't blame Ruby. She was probably too busy blaming herself as well right now to be blaming anybody else.

Weiss had said this speech more than once over the past few days. Again and again the white haired girl had stood outside Ruby's room trying to talk to her, to console her, to do anything to try and make her feel better. But as best as she could tell, her words only fell on deaf ears. She tried not too push too hard, wary of Ruby pulling away like Blake had. But at the same time, this kind of approach accomplished nothing.

Everything that had happened, Yang, Blake, Ruby, it was all just becoming too much for her. Weiss would have given anything just to have Yang back, to have things back to the way they once were. She wished that Yang were here, to tell her what to do, to drag Blake back home, and to bring a smile back to Ruby's face. But she wasn't, and she never would be.

"Please Ruby, just come out, just-" Weiss choked back a sob. It hurt. Everything hurt so much. "If-if not for her, then how about for yourself? For Blake. For me." Yang was gone, Blake was out destroying herself, and Ruby was wasting away. Then there was her, useless, unable to do anything but watch as her team just tore itself apart. "I-I can't. Ruby I- please, just please..."

Alone in the empty hallway Weiss Schnee sunk her to knees and wept.

Ruby heard Weiss from the other side of the door. She was crying. Again. This was hardly the first time the other girl had broken down like this, merely the first time she had been so obvious about it. She wasn't sure if her partner knew that she knew, her hearing had always been a bit sharper than most.

She tried not to feel too relieved that at least she didn't have to watch the proud Schnee heiress cry. Ruby felt guilty enough knowing that it was her fault. Just another person she had brought nothing but pain to.

As little as she left her room, Ruby knew about Blake as well. She had heard those first few muffled arguments, the anger, the sadness. Once she had slipped outside, and had watched from around a corner as Weiss silently bandaged their bloody teammate, an expression of resignation on her face. Ruby knew that Blake was hurting too. Because of her.

Just like Weiss.

Just like...just like Yang.

Pulling her knees in closer Ruby lowered her face into the gap between her legs and body. Yang. Just the thought of her name sent another wave of misery through her body. But she needn't worry about tears, no, those were already long dried up.

The world seemed so dark now, like there was no more light in the world. The pervasive shadows now lingered everywhere, as if to remind her that nothing would ever be alright any more.

Sleep was difficult these days for Ruby, all the more cruel given her great wish for the comfort of it's sweet oblivion. It reminded the dark haired girl of how things used to be long ago. A story, a song, things that had ended those dark times. But Yang was gone, fairy tales were dead, and any lullabies silenced.

The darkness often hounded her even into the rare moments of sleep she got. Glimpses of those final moments, imagined scenarios, or hearing Yang's unspoken words of hate and blame. But the thing was, Ruby thought she preferred these nightmares over the alternative.

At other times all was right with the world while within her dreams. They were all there, happy, and whole. Yang would play with her, tease her, or read her stories. Just like how things used to be. Sometimes Yang just held her, whispering soothingly that she loved her, that they were sisters and she would always love her. During those times, Ruby finally felt at peace.

When Ruby awoke, sometimes she could still feel the touch of a hand upon her. The warmth she felt would soon fade though as the cruel reality of the world came crashing back down. She hated those dreams, they were just long enough to be teasing and taunting, yet as a dream they inevitably were far too short to be satisfying. Waking up was like reentering an unending nightmare every single day. Sometimes Ruby wished that those dreams were reality, to never have to wake up from that world, instead of the living hell she found herself in now.

Ruby closed her eyes, the fleeting feeling of Yang's arms surrounded her only to vanish like a ghost. She had promised to be there, always at her side. But where was she now? Yang had said before that she would make her dreams come true, but the only dreams she had that mattered were one thing she wouldn't be able to fulfill.

"Liar."

Yang had left her behind. She knew that it wasn't like Yang had planned this, that she was only trying to protect her. But in the end what that meant was she was the one who was left, and in her sister's place there was only emptiness and sadness.

Unbidden, a name came into Ruby's thoughts. Summer Rose. A name she had long sought to bury.

It was funny how things turned out. Ruby was familiar with these feelings of anger and sadness, she had become acquainted with them once before. Yang had been the one to help pull her out of it, but now with her gone it all came back, and she was able to understand things in a way she never could before. Life wasn't like a fairy tale, and she just couldn't pretend like it was anymore. Things don't always end well, and this particular tale had no happy ending, only misery ever after.

Any joy in her life had been stripped away once again the moment Yang had died. Ruby didn't think she could bear it any more. All she ever brought to those around her was pain and misfortune. How long would it be until Weiss and Blake left her too?

Maybe it would have been better if she had just died.

A single event, a single instant in time, can ripple out in large and lasting consequences. Four lives, from one day to the next, shattered. One was gone. Another broken. The third, breaking. And the last is left desperately trying to pick up the pieces.

Team RWBY was close, and each member important to one another. Things would never be quite the same if any were to be lost. For many though, if they were asked who the most integral member of the team many would have chosen the leader, Ruby. She was after all the one who drew them all in and bound them together. The thing was though, it was Yang who had become the pillar the team leaned on.

Blake, though she got along with the others well enough, had relied upon Yang far more than she had allowed herself to realize. She shared interests with Ruby, and truly liked the younger girl, but their friendship had not been quite at the same level. For all their differences, the faunus and the Schnee heiress had worked passed their problems, coming out the other side with a greater mutual understanding and respect for one another. But for all this, they would never quite manage the same level of closeness as they did their own partners.

Yang, brash and outspoken, had been her opposite in nearly every way. Yet rather than clashing, they instead had completed each other in an odd way. For all her faults, and all her strengths, Yang had accepted her in a way that none ever had before. Subconsciously she had come to depend upon this relationship, and with it gone now she couldn't stand to return to the way things were before. She was tearing herself apart.

Of the three Weiss had probably interacted the least with Yang. Ruby was her partner, and the leader of their team. The heiress was closer to Ruby than she had ever been to anyone else. Two opposing sides of a coin she had been with Blake, but their friendship had eventually opened her eyes to a new view. Blake was a very precious friend to her.

Yang had often been Ruby's sister and Blake's partner and best friend before being Weiss's teammate. Her carefree personality had at times often rubbed Weiss the wrong way, yet for all her faults she had a surprising amount of depth. They were the same age, but at times Yang felt like the older sister she never had. For the often unsure girl, the confident blonde had been someone she could always turn to when in need of advice. Now though, even if she didn't admit it, even if she had successfully lied to herself, she was hurting and in need of help. With no one to turn to, Weiss was simply lost.

Ruby. The youngest member of the team, and also the leader. She loved all her teammates, but losing Yang was devastating in a way that would not have been the same with either of the others. Yang was her sister, somebody that had she had always expected and believed would be with her. She had been a constant, a guiding presence within her life. Once before she had lost such a person and it had nearly destroyed her, this second time would perhaps be enough to finish the job. A world without Yang was a world incomprehensible to Ruby.

It is always a sad state of affairs when someone dear is lost. People hurt, they mourn, they cry, and they grieve. An emptiness is left behind in their lives where the departed used to be. But in time, most move on. Though we keep a piece of the deceased within our hearts, the holes eventually fill, and eventually the world doesn't seem so dark.

This was not the case here.

Yang was special, and the members of her team fragile. Some hurts never go away, sorrow unending. Some wounds just never heal, forever painful. For Team RWBY, nothing could ever take the place of Yang. The place she held within each of their hearts differed between them, but for each, she was no less integral, no less irreplaceable.

Author's Note

Hrm, a little unsure on that ending, wasn't quite sure how I wanted to end it at first. I don't think it's terrible at least.

The fire was probably intense enough to completely destroy Yang's nerve endings, so she prooobably didn't feel too much pain. On the other hand, I've also heard that the brain can interpret a total lack of nerves and the resulting lack of signals as a sign that something has gone horribly wrong resulting in really really horrible pain, so Yang might have been in indescribable agony instead. Well, either way she probably passed out pretty quickly from the shock.

References were made to Summer Rose. Summer is the subject of much speculation within the fandom, but I'll explain it for those that don't know. In the Red trailer the gravestone/marker said "Summer Rose, Thus Kindly I Scatter". The latter is a line from a poem called "The Last Rose of Summer". People weren't totally sure what it meant at first, but after Ruby's last name was revealed as Rose, the grave theories became a lot more credible. Sticking with the Red Riding Hood theme, some people thought Summer might be Ruby's grandma. A popular theory now is sister, but right now it looks like mother. If you listen to the song Red Likes Roses Part II from the soundtrack, i.e. the song that plays during the fight in episode 8, the lyrics are quite depressing, but do sound like a motherly role, plus the singers are mother and daughter. It is also believed that the white cloaked person in the opening is Summer Rose.

Speaking of references, I also shoved as many references to the song "Gold" as possible into the scene with Ruby. It's supposedly a lullaby about Yang and Ruby, so I thought it was fitting. Go listen to that song and reread the scene if you're not familiar with it already. Plus as mentioned before, Red Like Roses Part II, plenty of references to that too.

Some of you may be thinking this is the end. After all, I've already killed all four members of Team RWBY. But no, there's still one more chapter. I did promise to kill a few more characters after all, didn't I? It's still centred around Team RWBY, but I am going to be killing a looooot of characters.