#well a shadow demon cave-conjured version but still

[caoimheart]

The girls are fightinggg

[nezzfiction]

ENMY Chapter 34 - Dual Nature

Chapter Synopsis: Yang takes a step closer to finding her true place in the world, for the worse or for the better.

Series Synopsis : Team RWBY is disbanded, and Yang must find herself new allies. For her, yesterday’s enemies are today’s friends(?). Joining up with the likes of Emerald, Mercury, and Neo, the four comprise Team Enemy.

Links to read the series: Ao3 or FF.net

Or hit the jump below

Dual Nature

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It is a precarious moment

When the person we desire to be

Either joins or disappears

With who we become.

.

.

When Yang became aware, she realized she was standing on the surface of a vast ocean.

The last thing she remembered was taking the Dust and Bane shards. Her mother and father watching patiently over her. And then, nothing.

Now, she was here.

Instead of sinking into the water, her boots planted on it like it were solid ground. The smallest shift of her feet sent a thin ripple out for miles.

Yang scanned 360 degrees around her, but spotted no land in sight. Just an endless horizon that seemed to stretch for eternity.

The sky was clear blue, without a single cloud in sight. It almost melded completely into the ocean’s surface, like a dizzying mirror effect.

“This is…different,” Yang muttered. “Am I in the Never Realm?”

“The minds of Remnant’s inhabitants drift closest to the Never Realm, when they are dreaming,” loomed a dark, bellowing voice.

Yang went on instant alert, checking all sides for the source. Still, she found nothing but empty space.

“Who are you?”

“Do you not recognize me?”

“…You’re that voice in my dreams.”

“So you do remember. Dreams are often difficult to recall. But recalling them in a dream comes easier.”

“A dream—makes sense. Why don’t you show yourself, so we can have a nice face to face?”

“I am before you. You need only look.”

As soon as Yang drew her gaze down, she had to stop herself from giving a frightful yelp.

A great leviathan swam just beneath the water’s surface. Its long, reptilian body was as thick as a train car—twining and snaking across. There was no telling the creature’s true length and girth. And just the sight of it made Yang feel too small and too out in the open.  

“Do not be afraid,” another voice came. This one brighter and clear.

Another monstrous entity moved under her feet. It was not as long as the other, but just as massive with its great wingspan. The feathers on its tail danced with trails of various colored ribbons. An intense benevolence emanated from it, overwhelming Yang in a different way.

The girl swallowed her fear with a strainful gulp.

“You two are the halves within me?” she managed to eke out. “My Semblances.”

“”Yes,”” they answered in unison.

“Though, the other should have ceased to hold such sway long ago.”

“Indeed,” the lighter voice chuckled.

“If it wasn’t for that meddler.”

“Who are you guys talking about?”

“The one you call Masa Moon. She must have foresaw this.”

“What does she have to do with anything?”

The mention of the robotic-eyed doctor and weapon tech confused her.

“The arm she forged you functions in accordance with your Valor. Tis the only reason I remain viable. For you would have depended on the other, if differently.”

“I see…So, dad was right? I can overwrite the Reaper’s Semblance, then?”

“Your exceptional nature forces that choice upon you.”

“The duality that exists within your soul is most peculiar. A heart stained in equal parts black…”

“…and equal parts white.”

“Decisions made with nefarious intent…”

“…actions taken in noble sentiment.”

“”A dual nature. Therefore, you must judge and be judged.””

Yang almost made a fleeting backstep upon the vague images of two titanic heads rising to the surface. Their shadows growing larger and larger as they approached. But just as they broke the water, the leviathans took on different forms. Ones much smaller.

They emerged before Yang, two separate copies of herself.

The variant to her right, was clouded in black miasma. Its eyes ran a piercing scarlet. And the arm, that was supposed to be prosthetic, was a demonic claw-like limb. The bloodthirst reaching out from it was so thick it was palpable.

To her left, was a form of her beset with multicolored flames. The heat given off was so intense, it bent the air around it. Combined with its luminescence, Yang had trouble just standing in its presence. The figure, threatening to engulf her entirely.

“A great many battles await you. As does the most powerful adversary of them all,” the dark voice boomed. “You require me.”

Yang forced herself to look at them straight on.

“The Reaper’s Semblance.”

“Accepting yourself and your past takes true strength. Your wounds are painful, but from them, derive fortitude.” Yang’s darker self conjured Winter’s body out of thin air, clutching her neck in its grasp. “Never forget. Never turn away. Be firm in your conviction.” It tossed the corpse at Yang’s feet.

She flinched, but did her best to remain firm.

“After experiencing Em’s hallucinated traumas, I can’t let something like this shake me too much. No matter how much it hurts,” Yang gritted her teeth.

Still, she wanted to reach out for Winter’s body.

But the corpse sunk into the watery depths, and the fiery version of Yang began her piece.

“You possess a great heart, a valiant one of compassion and a willingness. Silencing it will cast shadows of doubt and breed disquiet in your soul. With clarity, you will burn brighter than any star. You will grow, you will change, and you will roar.”

It held a flame in its hand, and within the blaze were memories of Yang’s highest and lowest points.

She felt herself experiencing those moments again. The emotions threatened to consume her from within, and overflow. A sensation of being drowned made her heart pump dangerously fast.

Yang shut her eyes tight and kept her balance.

“So…! I pick one of you, and that’s what I become? That’s the deal, right?” she struggled to speak.

“”Yes,”” they responded together.

“What happens after that? What happens to the other…’Yang’?”

There was a slight pause.

“You must choose one of us to be your ally. Together, we will defeat the other.”

“Although, the enemy you deem, will surely summon resistance. A dreadful foe depending on your decision.”

“Bear in mind, it is no easy task to defeat one of us, even with the other’s help.”

“This is a trial with your very soul as wager. You must be resolved.”

“You must not be discouraged.”

“You must devour.”

“You must be noble.”

Yang weighed their words.

“But one of you has to ’die’?”

“”That is correct,”” the doppelgangers echoed. “”To take one identity means to kill the other. The road not taken, ceases to exist. It is natural.””

Yang heard them and understood…

…

But she still didn’t like it.

In truth, Yang had her own biases from the very start. Her parents meant well, and so did the figures before her. But she couldn’t shake off the first thought that came to mind, when she first heard their proposals.

Her answer was ridiculously straightforward and simple. It was what she lived by. And suddenly, she did not care for the “natures” of her Semblances, or their ultimatum. They could both leave her, and she would merely find another way.

The thought alone, lifted an enormous weight from her shoulders, and she regained her confidence.

“Hmmm~” Yang’s lips twisted into a mischievous grin. “I’ve got a better idea~”

The flame and shadow apparitions looked at her curiously, then awaited her answer.

She inhaled deep, and filled her lungs with air. Yang balled up her uncertainties into her hands and clenched her fist.

“How about—you both come at me?” The girl wiped her nose with a cocky sneer. “And the winner takes all.”

Yang stomped her feet on the liquid surface and entered her fighting stance. Her lead right hand extended, and then beckoned them both forward—a gesture of taunting and unwavering confidence.

“”This is your answer?””

“Yup! NOW, BRING IT ON!!!”

.

* * * * *

.

“Hm?”

Yang stood dumbstruck at the scene of carnage before her.

The sparring grounds she had been taught to fight in since she was little, was now in complete ruins. Random pockets of flames flicked about. Craters dotted all across the earth, like the aftermaths of a meteor shower.

But perhaps most worthy of note, were Yang’s parents.

Blood trickled down Taiyang’s cheek, while Raven’s shoulder piece armor was caved in, with a part of it fractured off. Both of them looked rough and scraped in a few places. Their weapons directed at her.

Yang’s attention drifted to her own body’s condition, and found she too appeared to have been through a fight.

“You back to your senses, sunshine?” her father asked tiredly.

“Yeah…dad…” she scratched the back of her head in an awkward manner. “Did I do all this?”

“Nothing your father won’t be able to fix,” Raven answered, while sheathing her sword. She tried to fix her messy hair, but failed. “More importantly, how did the trial go?”

But it was in that instant, Raven and Taiyang sensed Yang’s Semblance activate. Both of them tensed on instinct. Their sixth sense triggered more violently than when she had gone berserk.

They both noticed their daughter watching them with a powerful gaze. Raven was the first to understand it wasn’t the Reaper’s Semblance, but something else entirely.

“It went pretty good,” Yang answered her.

She observed the cracks of light in her parents’ bodies. The scars fluctuated and sparked like live electricity or flame.

It was just as Yang first thought about her Semblance.

They are beautiful.

She showed her parents a gentle, but also cocky smile.

I can see them.

The Life In All Things.

    //p4-ca!<�@ߗX