The Phoenix's Birdcage

Chapter 4

She could not stop thinking about her sister. At first, she was able to hold the feelings in. Yang knew that she is in a whole new place and time, and she tried to keep herself from boiling over. As time progressed, however, she began to change. She went from her excited, fun-loving attitude to a sad husk of her former self.

She tried to hide it behind a big smile as she works with the raptors and Tina. The dinos knew of her distraught fixation on her sister, as she talks about her all the time to them. They try their best to comfort her. It worked for a while, but slowly, as she dove further into a deep, dark depression, she could barely joke around with them anymore.

Outside of the dinosaurs, Masrani was the first to notice her changing behavior. Unlike when she first started working at Jurassic World, she began asking for more breaks, and while she does what she's told, she does her work slowly and with a smile that he knew was fake. And from recordings from security cameras, it seems she has secretly taken up alcohol, much to his worries.

She must have something on her mind. What is she so worried about? If it's affecting her this badly, it must be something deep. From his experience in matters such as these, getting what's bothering you off of your chest works like a charm. Maybe it's about time to visit her?

Sweat rolled off her face as Yang furiously pummeled a punching bag, graciously donated to her, along with her other equipment, by Masrani. It was one of the few things that kept her from going insane. She had taken into account that her broken mind is putting a huge dent in her fighting style, and she wanted it to at least be in good shape so she can take on any Grimm that come her way.

As she stopped to take a swig of water, a knock came from the door of her trailer. She wrapped a towel around her neck and went to the door, feeling a bit sluggish from all the training she has done today. She opened the door to find that both Masrani and Wu have arrived. It was a strange sight to find both of Jurassic World's most important people standing at her doorstep.

She let the two men into her house. She did not feel a bit ashamed when Wu looked around, noticing that the place was trashed. They sat down on the couch as Yang plopped down on a chair. Masrani was the first to speak.

"Ms. Long, it has come to my attention that you have been slacking in your work. Is there a reason why?" he asked. Yang closed her eyes, trying to think of an excuse.

"Sorry, I'll try and get better," she mumbled. Dr. Wu took a good look at Yang and realized that she is just in bad of shape as her trailer. Disheveled hair, dark circles under her eyes, and erratic movements caught his eye, and he knew that something was wrong with her as Masrani was preaching.

"You've said that many times before, but you slowly got worse and worse. Is there something on your mind that is keeping you from doing your best?" Dr. Wu asked.

"I'm fine...I just...I mean, there's nothing wrong with me," she told the two, giving a smile. Masrani and Wu knew that she was faking it.

"From your appearance alone we can tell that something is troubling you, Ms. Long. Have you been able to get any sleep as of late?" Masrani inquired. Yang went silent for a moment. She rested her head on her fist as she thought about what to say. It was difficult to even say anything worth talking about anymore. She wanted to hide her sorrows, but...now she can't do it anymore. Her feelings have been bottled up for too long.

Masrani and Wu noticed as she began to shudder a bit. Tears welled up in her eyes as she finally let out a choked quip.

"Ruby..."

"Ruby? Is this a significant other of yours from your time?" Dr. Wu asked, raising an eyebrow in interest in learning more about the past.

"She was...my sister," she told them both through her now streaming tears. Masrani felt sympathy for the broken blondie. He had a feeling that, despite her surviving, this Ruby person probably didn't make it the same as she did.

"I understand, Ms. Long. It is hard to think when you believe that a close family member is long gone. Is there any way that I can help you relieve this?" Masrani told her. He isn't going to let Yang go down a deep and dark path. She may be 113 million years old by this point, but she still thinks and behaves like a seventeen-year-old. Going down that path with that mindset doesn't bode well for most people, and, with having to deal with missing your sister for as long as Yang has, it makes it all the worse.

Yang didn't say anything. She just sat there, drowning out her cries with her towel so it wouldn't make Masrani and Wu uncomfortable. The two men knew she needed time to herself. They looked at each other and nodded before saying their goodbyes to Yang. She gave a shaky wave as the two walked out the door.

She could not hold back anymore. She slammed her fist into the carpeted floor and let out a heartbreaking, sorrow-fulled scream. The floor below her face became soaked in her tears. She put her knees to her face, rocking back and forth as she closed her eyes, trying to muffle her "horrid" cries.

Island of Patch, 113 million years ago:

The day is bright and without a cloud in sight. It was a perfect time to spar. While Ruby is good with a huge scythe, Yang knew she wasn't good with hand-to-hand combat. They should get some training done before the moment is ruined by a storm or something similar.

The two have been sparing for a while. As she expected, Ruby isn't much of a fighter when it comes to punching people. No matter what Ruby tried, she couldn't land a good hit on her. She felt in her element here. However, her mind came back to reality as her fist impacted her sister's gut, sending the black-and-red-haired girl to the ground.

"Ow!" she yelped.

"Come on. You totally could've dodged that!" Yang said, holding a hand to her. Ruby takes it and stands up.

"Yang! I've already told you, I'm just not cut out for hand-to-hand. Why can't I just use my beautiful Crescent Rose?" Ruby asked as she put a hand to her cheek, thinking about her weapon.

"That's exactly why I wouldn't let you bring it," Yang told her, earning an "ugh!" from the girl. "I'm gonna be leaving for Beacon soon. I wanna make sure my little sis can hold her own while I'm gone."

"Fine..." Ruby mumbles before getting into a somewhat fake defensive stance.

Yang readies herself and sends a punch that Ruby has barely enough time to block it with her wrist. The scythe-wielder ducked under her next punch and side-stepped her third. Yang must admit, she is good at dodging. Her semblance can do some mighty things when under stress.

Yang quickly turns 180 degrees to deliver another punch, forcing Ruby to step back. She then ducked underneath her leg but was surprised to see Yang use it to spring into the air to deliver a high kick. Yang then rushes in with more punches, which Ruby blocks with her forearms. She sidesteps once more to avoid an elbow jab.

Ruby finally tries a taste of an offensive playstyle. She stretches out her palm in an attempt to deliver a right hook, leading to nothing as Yang casually tilts her head. The blond-brawler quickly swept Ruby's feet from under her and was about to deliver her right hook but hit the dirt as the scythe-wielder poofed into rose petals and zoomed off into the bushes.

"Nice one sis! You're not always going to be able to run away from your problems, though. Sometimes, you just have to stand your ground and fight, no matter what!" Yang said. She was not expecting silence, however. Was she taking a break? "Alright, enough rest! Get back out here...Ruby?"

Fearing something happened to her, Yang unfurled her gauntlets and walked into the forest. She puts a hand to her forehead to scan the area, hoping to find Ruby in this mess. She called out to her, but no direct response came. The deeper she went, the darker the forest seemed to become. She stopped when she heard something. This turned out to be a wrong turn, as she nows stands face-to-face with a huge, hulking Grimm, an Alpha Acrosuch.

"Oh shi-"

A guttural roar escaped the Grimm as it began its assault, charging full speed towards her. Taking the challenge head-on, she launches herself towards it using Ember Celica. It tries to swat her out of the air, but she lands and delivers multiple punches and blasts from her gauntlets. It roars in anger and swipes at her with its tail, sending her flying pretty far.

She plants her feet on the ground and does a flip midflight to stop herself. With feet planted into the dirt, she unleashes a volley of shots from her gauntlets, doing nothing but enraging the Grimm further. She cocks her gauntlets as the Arcosuch charges once more and tries to slice her into sushi. This is soon quelled by Yang giving it an uppercut, though it still smacks Yang. As she hits the ground again, she fires off the ground and flies under its belly, unleashing another barrage of bullets on its exposed underside. Despite having no armor there, it did nothing to the Grimm.

No matter what she did, it only angered it more. The beast couldn't do much either for Yang easily blocked its attacks. That would be the case until Ruby finally showed herself. Yang was caught off guard, thankful that she was alright, giving enough time for the Arcosuch to slap her into multiple trees. Ruby gasped as Yang came to a standstill on a tree branch before realizing the Grimm had begun focusing her.

By the time Yang steadied herself, the Arcosuch was already chasing her poor sister. It would've eaten her if it weren't for Yang getting in the way. The Grimm's massive, croc-like maw chomped on her abdomen. If it weren't for her aura, the teeth would've sliced her in half. As it threw her into a tree, her aura began to shimmer.

"Yang!" Ruby yelled, speeding to her older sister. Yang's eyes fluttered open as the Arcosuch charged once more. With what strength she has left, she stands up, activating her semblance. With all the innate strength she has been charging since fighting the Grimm, she gave the giant monster a strike to the jaw, turning it into mush, before jumping and giving another to the side of its head, destroying its braincase with relative ease.

The two fell at the same time. The now lifeless Grimm vanished into black smoke as Ruby rushed to her side.

"Ruby...thank goodness your safe," Yang told her.

"Yang, are you okay? Oh, I didn't know how to help without my scythe! I'm so sorry!" Ruby panicked. She wanted to say more sorries, but Yang's sudden hug helped her calm down.

"It's okay. I've always got your back, sis," she comforted the scythe-wielder.

The two smiled and laughed as they made their way home.

Present, Jurassic World:

Yang put a hand to her chest as the memory finished playing. It was one of her favorite moments with her probably long-dead sister. Where is she now? What about her other family and friends? They might have returned to the dust to which humanity was born, or they might be alive, like what happened with herself and lost somewhere else in the world. She feared for both. Ruby would be experiencing all these new things for the first time, and who knows how the others would've reacted. Yang felt similar but kept calm since she had a stronger will than Ruby.

This "will" that she had loudly withered away as Yang let another distressed scream escape her throat.

"I...I've failed you sis...I'm sorry."

Depression time :(

Indoraptor had made a good point in that Yang would've broken down in tears knowing all her friends and family may be dead. Thanks for the input, good friend. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

This is Sporedude135, signing off...