The flared tempers had lasted since the moment they'd started training. Ruby had decided to push the team to create new duet moves, and after the success of Checkmate and Ladybug part two, today's focus had been on a second, offensive Freezerburn. However Weiss and Yang's fighting techniques had proven to be annoyingly dissimilar before, and had been bordering on incompatible throughout the training session. Slips, falls, and far too hesitant use of Dust had already left them battered and exhausted after the first two hours of practice, but they continued on, both for Ruby's sake and their own.

"Come on, guys. I'm sure you can get it right next time," Ruby promised, trying her hardest inspire and encourage her teammates. She'd always been both team leader and cheerleader, wanting her teammates to succeed wherever possible.

"Maybe if your sister had an alternate fighting strategy to punching things harder, we wouldn't currently be struggling," Weiss grumbled under her breath, just loud enough for Yang to hear. That'd been the first direct insult, but Yang was a big girl who'd grown to tolerate Weiss's underhanded quips. She'd buried the stinging words and shrugged them off with ease, not bothering to defend herself against someone who was obviously as frustrated as she was.

However that had only been the first transgression of the day. Weiss would test her patience several more times before her blood finally started running hot. They'd disagreed on everything from footwork to strike placement to how many shells Yang was allowed to expend during their combinations.

"You won't be of any use to us when you run out of shells! Don't use any more than two-"

"Weiss, worry about yourself! I'm fine, I know how many shells I have left," Yang argued. Shells or no shells, she would never let her teammates down when she was needed. Weiss even implying that she would was like a dagger in the chest. But she'd swallowed that as well.

"Myrtenaster doesn't need shells, just Dust… Weiss has never had to keep count before. She doesn't realize that it's something we all do just fine," she reasoned with herself.

Slamming down face-first into the hard linoleum had also been aggravating. Using one of Weiss's glyphs as a platform, Yang had tried to hover over the battlefield and gain an advantage over the animatronic punching bag the gym used for sparring practice. Weiss had tried launching her at their target a second too early, and Yang landed face-first on hard floor. Blood poured from her mouth and smashed lip before her Aura healed the injury, and she cast an angry scowl at her teammate as Ruby ended the round.

The last straw had been one Yang took personally. Hair whipping behind her, Yang had turned slightly faster than normal, her wild mane hitting Weiss in the face. In anger, Weiss had reached out and swatted at the sea of blonde, her fingertips catching her curls and tearing out a few golden strands. Yang swallowed hard as she fought to restrain herself, but knew she would lose the uphill battle to contain her emotions. They'd spill onto Weiss and that was something she deeply wanted to avoid. Unfortunately the only exit to the room was on the wall directly behind the heiress. Yang walked passed her teammate, trying her hardest not to brush passed the girl as she made her way to the door.

"Don't walk away from me! I'm your teammate and I deserve your-"

"Not now, Weiss," Yang snarled. She could feel her eyes had changed from their normal lilac to the deep scarlet that was reserved only for those occasions when her temper boiled hottest. Her hair was personal. A transgression she couldn't forgive but would try desperately to forget if Weiss would only give her the chance. She nearly spat as she continued passed the heiress, who was trying all too hard to get on her final nerve.

"Weiss, maybe now isn't the best time to bother Yang," Ruby explained. She kept pace just a few steps behind her partner, desperately trying to remain impartial while still getting her to leave her sister alone.

"I have never shown Yang this level of disrespect and I refuse to-"

"Weiss, please," Ruby begged, tugging on the heiress' sleeve. She knew her sister all too well, and everything about Yang, from her footfalls to her breath screamed her desire to be left alone. Ruby reached out and took a hold of Weiss's hand, trying to hold her back long enough for her sister to clear some distance.

"Your sister is a coward! She won't even look me in the eyes." Weiss had her own reasons to be upset. She'd spent years formally training to hone her skills to ensure she'd be able to mold her style to anyone who was competent. But Yang's style- or lack thereof- was compromising her ability to excel. Weiss was irritated from the long training session where their only reward had been failure, and frustrated by their lack of cohesion as teammates. The biting words were more of a reflex than an attempt to hurt her.

Yang stopped trying to walk away, her feet becoming heavy with the weight of the insult. She looked down to the ground and smiled, bright white teeth flashing in an awkward grin. Reaching up, she combed her fingers through her hair, pushing curly blonde strays away from her face to lay flat against her scalp. Yang finally turned back to her teammate, locking eyes with the smaller girl.

"Weiss…" Yang could see Weiss hesitate, taking in the seriousness of her tone. She desperately hoped it would be enough to get the heiress to leave her alone. Ruby stood between them both, one hand on Yang's chest and the other against her partner's. She looked quickly from one to the other, anxiously hoping one of them would step down. Her silver eyes were wide with confusion as she struggled to decide the best way to handle the situation as a leader, friend and sister.

"Don't you threaten me," Weiss finally replied, taking a defiant step towards the blonde.

"Or what, Princess?" Her words were dripping with pure rage. Her fists were at her sides, clenched and shaking as the struggle to contain herself grew more and more difficult. Ruby quickly moved to push against her sister with both hands, trying with all her might to lead the older girl away. Her red soled boots pushed desperately against the smooth linoleum, all but impossible for her to gain enough traction to move her sister.

"Yaaang," she whined, looking up into eyes she'd only seen in her nightmares. They were the same, loving eyes she'd always known, corrupted and full of fury and concentrated hatred. Yang was hurting, and like her Semblance, she was biding her time to return that pain. Ruby quickly realized she was losing the fight to end this peacefully.

"Or I'll-" Weiss's gaze moved from Yang to Ruby and back again as she spoke. Her voice wavered but never cracked as she held her ground. She knew she was right. Yang was the one who was being unreasonable. How dare she treat her like some untrained ruffian. As if she was being unreasonable for expecting Yang to be adaptable.

"Take your fucking shot," Yang growled, her voice barely a whisper above the scrape of Ruby's boots against the floor.

"Weiss, don't-"

Weiss had been intimidated her whole life. By the White Fang. By rival companies threatening to usurp the empire her great grandfather started. By her own sister, whose constantly shining perfection made it difficult to stand out in a family that only rewarded results. Even by her own father, during moments where low stock prices left his temper quick to rise. But she refused to be bullied by her own teammate. Not by the brute Yang Xiao Long.

Weiss clenched her fist and threw all of her weight behind the strike. All of her righteousness, all of her pride, all of her hurt at being disrespected by a teammate and friend. Her fist connected with Yang's cheek, Ruby having disappeared in a burst of rose petals. Punching a brick wall would've possibly been a more effective tactic- her wrist bent in on itself, spraining the joint. Her eyes widened as she realized what she'd done, uninjured right hand reaching across her hip towards Myrtenaster.

Yang could feel the world come to a screeching halt. Everything around her moved incredibly slowly, as a million thoughts raced through her mind at once. She remembered the way Weiss had snapped at Ruby during Professor Port's class. Her sister had told her about the resulting argument as well as her conversation with Headmaster Ozpin. Yang remembered being furious at Weiss for making her sister feel inadequate, but her Ruby had begged her not to confront the heiress about it.

She remembered the way Weiss had argued with Blake, being so rude as to even refuse to help her and Ruby try to find their runaway teammate. Weiss's excuse had been "she was afraid of what Blake would say when they finally found her," but even then, that'd sounded like a despicable reason not to help find their friend. As if nothing Blake could say could absolve her of doing absolutely nothing wrong.

She remembered burying so many more uncomfortable moments shared between herself and her teammates with Weiss and her less than warm attitude. Swallowing them all and holding them down like boiling bile.

She didn't move an inch when Weiss's fist collided with her jaw. She knew her body, and was sure the strike would leave less than a bruise.

She wouldn't.

Her punch was a right hook she'd practiced thousands of times. Her fist met Weiss's Aura, a defense she'd expected the heiress to throw around herself. Her punch, fueled with anger and rage far exceeded that of Weiss's concentration. Yang punched through the defensive energy, her fist hardly slowing before it connected with Weiss's temple.

Yang was anger, rage, fury. Vindictive.

She was seeing through a haze of scarlet and fire, nothing on her mind except vengeance. She watched as Weiss reeled behind the force of the blow, blood pouring from the scar she'd reopened. She looked shocked, as if she hadn't actually expected Yang to hit her. As if she believed she was safe from the consequences of her actions after having been excused of them for so long. Yang clenched her left fist, ready to wipe the surprised look off her teammate's face before she felt something holding her wrist back. She looked to see a long, black ribbon wrapped around her arm and almost smiled.

"Yang, what are you doing," Blake yelled, moving to push her away from the heiress.

"She's trying to kill me," Weiss screamed, reaching for Myrtenaster before Ruby zipped passed, a trail of rose petals the only evidence as to who could've stolen the weapon.

Yang shrugged and walked away, finally exiting out the door while Blake and Ruby tended to Weiss. She heard hundreds of obscenities screamed at her as she walked out of the room, but the deep, relaxing breath she took once she was finally out of earshot felt as if a weight had been taken off her shoulders.