Lean, Green, And Very, Very Mean

Chapter 3: Of Nightmares and Memories

For once the Rookie spent the night awake, unable to sleep. The man, Ozpin had said many things, all of which were so very insane how could any of it be true. Yet Ozpin was convinced it was all very real and he was starting to make her doubt whether any of this was still a dream.

The Helljumper wasn't certain whether she wanted this to be a dream or not, but what did any of it matter anyway. Earth was doomed, probably already lost along with the rest of the Sol system. If that's the case then Humanity was already damned, and it was all over. Strangely she found herself letting out a breath of relief and what must have been long-awaited one at that.

So many years of nothing but battle, years of nothing but loss after loss, it was finally over for her. She had long since given up any hope of Humanity ever defeating the Covenant, especially ever since Admiral Cole died back in '43. She was still a kid at the time, growing up in a generation that knew nothing but a losing war. Sure, the Censors did their best to cover up the costliest of defeats, finding ways to spin a defeat into a pyrrhic victory for the Covenant. The older generations kept preaching on with how Humanity would eventually win, how they'd overcome through sheer resilience. Lies… all of it. When Reach fell that lie revealed itself and people finally understood the inevitable.

Truth be told she was hoping that it was all over and that she really was transported to some strange world. Far away from the madness that was the war. A new beginning… as Ozpin put it.

She reached over to the bedside table and picked up a strange device given to her by Ozpin. A scroll he called it. What a silly name. It was essentially a standard smartphone but much more compact and capable of the same tasks. Sending and receiving communications, gathering information from a Waypoint like network, and apparently managing the users Aura level, bank info, and other personal info. As she held the device in her hand she couldn't help but wonder, Does it have a Dark Mode?

Powering it on, the screen flicked to a screen which prompted a user to login. Being a new owner, the Rookie pressed the text NEW USER. A new page popped up asking for her information, name, date of birth, gender, etc.

Name…

The Rookie lingered on text for what felt like an hour. Her fingers hovering over the keypad, hesitant. She gently pressed down on one of the keys, "S-" then stopped. Painful memories started to emerge, memories of her childhood, of her brother… the one who named her. Not just to assign her a name and be done with it. She quickly tossed the memories from her mind and deleted what she had.

NAME: R-O-O-K-I-E

She typed. A new name, for a new life. The name on her tags be damned along with that damned nickname from her brother. The next prompt asked for her date of birth. The calendar of this world was different from her own, so she randomly selected a date of birth.

Sure, whatever I'm 21 again, yippee…

She didn't know the drinking age on Remnant but hoped it was lower than that silly Old American 21 bullshit. If you were old enough to be melted by plasma, then you were old enough to drink the deaths of your comrades away.

As for her gender she of course put female, she had tits after all and balls of steel as some told her. She was tempted to fool around with Other and type in Helljumper but chose not to. Just as she finished creating her profile a message popped up on her screen. It was from Ozpin.

OZPIN: I see that you have accessed your Scroll. Have you given anytime to consider my proposition?

The Rookie took a moment to think back on what the mysterious man had offered her.

A new life…

The prospect gave her goosebumps. Could she so simply toss aside her past and forget all that's happened? Or could she be brave enough to finally move forward? Ozpin was offering her a place in this new world, one where she could finally be free from it all. She typed out her response and hit send.

ROOKIE: Yes.

OZPIN: And?

ROOKIE: I'll do it… on one condition. I want my stuff back.

A minute passed before the headmaster responded.

OZPIN: Agreed. I look forward to seeing you at Beacon.

Rookie closed the messaging app and tossed the scroll to the side of her bed.

Yang leaned herself against the door to her room, sliding down it to the carpeted floor. Her hands were shaking, and her breath quickening with each inhale. It's ok… You're ok! Just Breath!

…

Just breath…

…

Her hands stopped shaking and her breath normalized. She was fine. No… no she wasn't, and she never would be. No amount of medication nor therapy could stop her attacks, but they did help. How could she ever become a Huntress in this state?

Yang knew the truth, so did everyone else. She was broken… not at all ready for the life expected of her, the life she dreamed of as a child. Sure, she'd won the fight but only did so by barely keeping herself together.

Meds… I need Meds!

Standing up Yang made her way towards the bathroom. Her pace quickened until she was at her sink where she threw open the medicine cabinet and took out a bottle of prescribed medication. Her hands began to shake again as she struggled with the bottle. Yang opened the bottle with a little to much force and pills exploded all over the bathroom sink.

"D-Damn it!"

She desperately tried to save as many pills from falling down the drain. With a few saved, she desperately threw them into her mouth, not caring how many she had swallowed.

Looking into the mirror she saw just how much of a mess she really was. Blood was everywhere, it was on her hands, in her hair, and on her clothes. None of it was hers of course, some belonged to Torchwick's thugs, most of it belonged to the woman who saved her life. Without her she would be dead.

Dead… I could be… dead?

The thought didn't alarm her as it should. Wasn't that the plan after all? She knew she shouldn't have gotten involved with Torchwick. She knew that! But… if she had died… then…

A hand fell to her wrist, where she began to nervously rub. Fingernails just barely cutting into the skin. With a little bit more force or something sharper… she could- Yang shook her head and closed her eyes.

No! Don't think! Just Don't think!

Her hands formed into fists away from her wrists, the only blood being drawn from the inside of her palms where her nails dug in. She'd have to trim them again.

Just… Breath…

Minutes passed and Yang felt calm once more. She relaxed and with one last breath opened her eyes, but as she gazed into the mirror a haunting chill ran up her spine.

"Yang…"

Her frightened eyes focused on the mirror where just behind her stood a little girl. With sickly pale skin, faded reddish-black hair, and where those beautiful silver eyes should have been, empty pits darkness. She wanted to look away, she really wanted too but her fear kept her frozen.

"It's ok Yang… you're just not ready yet" said the girl, her boney arms wrapping themselves around her waist, "Don't worry… when you are… Dad, Mom, and I will be waiting… we love you Yang… please don't make us wait…"

Yang let out an anguished scream and punched the mirror. The glass shattered and the little girl faded away. She fell to the bathroom floor, curling up into a corner as she held herself. Tears falling down her face as she tried to forget once more.

It wasn't real… not real… no… no…

Blood seeped through her fingers from the fist she'd punched the mirror with. Her tightly closed fists dug the pieces of glass deeper into her palms. She tried to focus on that pain, only that pain. She didn't hear the door to her room open nor the footsteps toward the bathroom.

"Yang?" called a soft, caring, motherly voice.

No… no… no… not you too!

She couldn't look, couldn't bear to open her eyes and see the trick her mind was playing on her. Even as a pair of arms wrapped around her and pulled her close.

"Yang, it's just me" spoke the voice, "it's ok, none of them are real remember?"

Yang's head rested against the chest of the apparition and felt… warmth? "G-Glynda?" she tested. A hand massaged itself through her hair in a familiar pattern only one person did.

"Yes…"

Even more tears broke from her eyes and she wrapped her arms around the one person who'd promised never to abandon her. Pulling herself in closer towards the heart, Yang searched and searched for the warmth. What she found was enough for her to find solace and fall into a dreamless sleep.

AN: I've got 99 problems but seeing hallucinations of my dead family members telling me to kill myself ain't one.

So… yeah Yang is kind of fucked up. Ok very fucked up. Not going to lie but this story may get bumped up to M as there is other stuff on the same level as this.

Also, short chapter I know. (Dodges shoe) I'm trying to get good at writing up to 5,000 words again, but it'll take time. Next chapter should be longer than any of the previous ones.