Chapter 1: Reflection Amongst A Sea Of Stars

"It began of nothing and in nothing it ends."

Gaius Cornelius Gallus

Lake Azure looks so beautiful in the evening twilight; the way the remnants of sunlight twinkle off the water like shining stars in the sky makes me feel oddly existential; these imaginary stars will eventually, just like us, fade into obscurity. As if particles of space dust intermingling, the heavenly lights of the sky that are a mere figment of my imagination dance on top of the darkening surface of the deep pool of water that flows through Vale.

That's definitely not something I would have said in my first year at Beacon. I blame the Ice Queen for my sesquipedalian loquaciousness. Yes, she did teach me that term, and I've used it ever since.

Distracting me from my literal spacing out, Blake appears beside me in an elegant outfit of slightly dark grey, fairly form-fitting trousers, and a plain white t-shirt underneath an unzipped hoodie in a shade that matches the water. She claims the change from her previous monochrome colour scheme (if it can be called that) into a less contrasting and more muted one was due to some garbage about "an epiphany about the world's morality", which disappointed me immensely when I heard about it - cliché though it is, she really does look good in black.

"What brings Yang Xiao Long the Great Punslinger of all people out here? You're not really a stargazing type." she asks, deciding to stare out across the by now colourless water.

"Just watching the water flow out to sea. It helps me relax." I respond somewhat honestly. Although I feel a deep peace from the soothing motion of the inky lagoon, it wasn't the reason I came out here

The cat Faunus smiles at me, and turns back to watching the water. She's changed a hell of a lot from the insular, introverted girl reading by candlelight I met on our first day at Beacon. It was toward the end of her second year at Beacon that she finally became truly comfortable at Beacon, and with Team CFVY having finally given Team CRDL their comeuppance for their blatant racism towards Velvet, she decided to bin her bow, and be proud of being a Faunus. Of course, in public she would be heavily guarded by Team RWBY, who were not afraid to make examples of anyone being so horribly racist towards her. Usually, my little sister simply unfolding Crescent Rose and pointing the diamond tipped, serrated (and fairly deadly looking) edge to the offending citizen got them to shut up incredibly quickly. That didn't stop the glares she'd receive walking down the streets of Vale, but it's better she gets those looks which she can ignore (and often does) than people hurling rocks and insults her way.

By now, all traces of sunlight have disappeared, leaving only the streetlights as illumination for those who don't have night vision. I spare a moment to see how my partner is, but find myself strangely distracted. In her three-tone casual outfit, she looks remarkably elegant and sophisticated - her black and white torso has the clothes arranged so neither colour is overpowering the other. Somehow, the warm and comforting glow of the streetlights' bulbs gives my partner an iridescence that only seems to add to the sense of mystery that she embodies.

Wait, why am I seeing her in this way?

I quickly turn back to the lake, and the jagged skyline behind it, knowing all too well the Faunus could clearly make out my rapidly heating up cheeks in the darkness.

I'm sure it was probably nothing; I mean, it's not like I swing that way, right? It would be a good proposal/makeout spot though.

Shaking my head to get rid of these errant and inappropriate thoughts and hoping Blake saw nothing, I decide to reflect on my other team-mates.

I'm genuinely proud of my little sister and her accomplishments; she has grown into an adept team leader who can rapidly change strategy to account for any circumstance and any battle formation. Even Ozpin remarked how good she'd gotten as a team leader - he made a very good call at moving her from Signal to Beacon two years earlier than usual. In our first year, second semester, we had a food fight which showed that we were all fairly competent at fighting by ourselves, but needed to be more cohesive as a group - the fight started off as just me with no-one else to support me. In our last year, we had another skirmish (with Ozpin's blessing, along with a promise to clean the cafeteria afterwards), in which we completely dominated Team JNPR due to the excellent tactician that I call my sister.

In addition to her prodigious leadership skills, she has another trick up her sleeve else that is truly heart-warming: Ruby is a combat medic - she can deftly juggle a fight with a horde of Grimm and healing her team-mates as well as any other subordinates she may have thanks to her Speed semblance. She wanted to be "just like the heroes in the books" to use her own words, so the already caring girl became even more selfless, resulting in her devoting her spare time learning Dust based first aid and thus becoming the combat medic she is today. It's amazing how quickly she can get you back on your feet and fighting after a gunshot or two pierces your Aura.

The Ice Queen has defrosted quite a lot, actually. She doesn't scold us nearly as much as she used to, and she contributes a lot to our team, in terms of supplies. That's the good news. The bad news is that her father did not in any way approve of her being on a team with a Faunus, so Weiss willingly gave up her inheritance and most of her stake in the SDC to cut him out of her life, which was incredibly brave of her. This has very much limited our resources in terms of tracking Dust stolen by the White Fang.

The White Fang. That name always leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I mean, sure, Roman Torchwick's spending the rest of his years in a high security prison somewhere near Atlas, and yeah, Blake gave Adam his just dessert (I didn't see what happened exactly, but Blake arrived at Beacon, drenched in blood that most definitely was not her own, with one of the most terrifying smiles I've ever seen), but every time we neutralize a White Fang leader, a new one pops up to take their place within a few minutes. It's crazy.

As for me? About halfway through my third year at Beacon, the father of me and Ruby, Taiyang, was killed by the White Fang. By his corpse was a letter addressed directly to me, which stated the following: "You're next."

Up to that point, I'd put on a strong face for Ruby and later my team-mates, promising them that whenever she had a problem, they could always come to me; yet there I was, standing with a very real proof that I wouldn't be able to keep my promise.

I completely broke.

I spent weeks locked inside the Team RWBY dorm room, instinctively firing my shot gauntlets at anything that moved nearby. On multiple occasions, that "anything" was my teammates, or members of Team JNPR. I once fired at Ozpin, and nearly got discharged from Beacon as a result of being a nervous wreck. Eventually, after receiving both barrels from Weiss multiple times, Ruby played a very risky gambit. She said that if I didn't at least try to recover she'd resign her position as leader of Team RWBY and leave Beacon; it successfully kicked my big sister instincts online, and I made a modest effort to get back up to speed. It didn't work out though, as I'd break down after losing a sparring match.

The girl who managed to mostly reassemble Yang Xiao Long was the dark haired, amber eyed young woman currently watching the stars contently next to me, watching the stars shimmer in the skies. She revealed to me that when the White Fang went from "the White Fang protest group" to "the White Fang terrorist organisation", she'd been forced to accept the very real possibility of her dying on the job; she coped by having the mantra of if she was going to die tomorrow, she'd at least have enjoyed today - this was where she got her hobby of reading from, as books were fairly cheap and provided a decent few hours of enjoyment.

So I'm probably the least like myself as a first year, taking things fairly seriously, but spending lots of time with my friends and family, with the odd pun or two to show that I'm not completely gone; any illusions of a happy, comfortable life are long gone though, thanks to that haunting note.

Blake gives me a comforting smile one that attempts to reassure me that everything will be OK, that it'll all be fine in the end. She seems to be doing a better job at playing big sister than I am - and I'm the one with roughly 2 decades of experience at it...

"We should probably go inside, lest you get a cold from standing out here too long." I suggest, knowing that Blake's feline Faunus instincts would greatly appreciate being safely curled up by a roaring fire - or my blazing hot Aura - rather than standing outside in the by now near freezing temperatures of the empty blackness that is night in Vale.

"Yeah, I was wondering when you'd say that - I know you're immune to cold thanks to that damn Inner Fire Semblance, but even you get tired eventually." she agrees, shivering slightly from prolonged exposure to the outside elements. As we head back to Beacon, I quickly unzip my leather jacket and hand it over to my partner, who almost greedily accepts the proffered item of clothing without a hint of hesitation, wrapping it around herself tightly. "Do you feel like answering my question properly yet?" she requests, "'Just thinking' is not particularly helpful, you know." Her ears twitch as a sign of annoyance that I didn't give her a proper answer.

"Truthfully, I'm not entirely sure. As you said, I don't really stargaze, but there's something about watching the lights of the sky twinkle in blissful peace that soothes deep inside. It's rare that we get free time in our line of work, so it's best we use it well." I offer as an explanation, not wanting to dredge up memories of my father's death - the real reason I was there - to my partner and best friend. I mean, yeah, she already knows most of it, but it doesn't quite have the same effect to her. She left her family of her own free will - my family left me without giving me a choice in the matter.

Blake gives me a hum of incomplete satisfaction - her heightened Faunus senses probably found a body language cue or something that shows I'm hiding something - but she decides, much to my relief, not to prod further. She gives a long yawn, indicating very heavy fatigue; if she was placed in front of the metaphorical roaring fire, I'd give her a few minutes at most before she was in deep sleep, probably dreaming of tuna fish or characters from one of her books.

Blake's unbound Faunus traits spasm violently, before she doubles over in pain, attempting to cover her ears in any way possible, so I cover her human ears to reduce the extreme sensory overload she receives when she hears something loud - I suppose there's a pretty good reason why there are very few Faunus at Achieve Men concerts. She attempts to convey as much thankfulness as is possible while being curled up in a ball due to extreme agony. Being a Faunus with superhuman senses must be very useful in very quiet situations, but a living nightmare in loud situations.

Then I hear it: the ghostly wail of the city emergency sirens fills the air, choking and suffocating any other sounds that try to challenge its omnipotence. Even I'm having problems trying to counter the horrible screeching those damn things make - Oum only knows how hard it must be for Blake right now. I make a split second decision, and tap several Faunus-specific pressure points that I know off the top of my head (due to several years of taking down White Fang members who made a very poor career choice) and she collapses into unconsciousness. For what's it's worth, Blake, I'm sorry I had to do that - as I mentally apologise to my poor partner I scoop her up in my arms, and sprint to the Team RWBY house as best I can. She'll be fine - the takedown causes no permanent damage to its victims, although she will be essentially paralysed from the waist down for most of tomorrow while her senses reset themselves - breakfast in bed opportunity, I suppose. She'll be pissed, certainly, but I think she'll understand that it was an act of mercy. I hope she will.

Having reached her bedroom, I put her on the bed, strip her of her clothes (attempting to give her as much privacy as is possible), put her pyjamas on, scribble a note saying "Sorry I paralysed you Blake, I'll make it up to you -Yang" and place it on her bedside table. Having done that, I then change from my casual clothing to my combat clothes, attach Ember Celica along with its exoskeleton arm and fist support (about halfway through my 3rd year, I learned how to store my Semblance energy; I kept breaking my fist, so my little sister built me an exoskeleton to support my arm while I punch through walls and other objects), and grab my scroll. Ruby and Weiss have probably already reached the airship, so there's little time to waste, and with Blake out for the count, we need the element of surprise to make up for our even lower than normal numbers.

I'm tired, hungry, can barely see straight and would really appreciate a pint or two right now, but duty calls. I find my motorbike, and within a minute I have donned my helmet and am on my way to Beacon, As I weave between the crowds of other Hunter teams and civilians, I call my little sister to ask where I should meet her; the rather uncharacteristically brusque reply is "In the airship". I'm sure she has a reason for her terse reply, but I can't help but feel something isn't quite right - either my sister's getting impatient (in which case, I'm going to get yelled at by Weiss), or it's something really serious (I mean, the city emergency alarms are going off, but the last time they went off was the Breach of Vale, which was really easy), in which case, we're royally screwed for not having Blake around. Putting such worrying thoughts aside (I'm not sure if I prefer dying or getting yelled at by Weiss for being late) I drive toward Beacon's airship port, pushing my engine to its limits to avoid getting an earful from the white-haired Ice Queen.

I really hope it's something actually challenging for once - it's been awhile since I last had some fun.

So, Detective Yang is unfortunately dead as of today. I had no plan for it, only rough ideas, and I think it definitely shows. This time, things should be much better organised, as I have a proper plan, and am co-writing with Yoramex.

Here's how things will work: I'll write every odd chapter (1, 3, 5, etc.) and Yora will write every even chapter (2, 4, 6, etc.). Chapters will be uploaded every Friday at 5pm GMT. Hopefully this works out, as we each get a fortnight to write the chapters.

Our writing styles are very different though, so it might be a little jarring at first - we promise we'll try our best to fix that, and will happily rewrite chapters if it makes things flow better.

Shoutouts to:

- JillianForDays, writer of Save Me and other truly fantastic stories - for massively helping with the plan for this story; this first chapter alone would only be half its size if not for the exposition that Jillian suggested.

- PartFootball, writer of Dark to Light and the Cake Day Shorts - without D2L, we would never have anything of the caliber (possible exception: the Rending Trilogy) to aspire to writing.

We hope we make it worth your while reading our pet project.

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