The Gold Dragon and the Black Tiger chapter 9

This story is almost at an end, thank you to everyone who has stuck around this long.

Enjoy the second to last chapter.

Blood and War

The Dragon and the black tiger stood side by side, along with the men of Hángzhōu who held spears, bows and makeshift weapons. The rain had turned into a light drizzle, the soil that was once dusty and dry was now slippery brown mud that squelched with any movement. At the present moment, Yang, Blake and the small army were waiting for a scout to return to give them information as to what they were going to face. Blake nuzzled Yang's shoulder with her nose getting the golden dragon's attention.

"Yang," Blake spoke softly, "Are you alright?"

Yang breathed deeply before letting out a puff of smoke from her nostrils. "I am alright. But the men, their faces don't show it, but I can smell their fear."

"As it happens before a battle," Blake said "I know we haven't known each other long, but I can't help but feel happy, calm and safe around you. I feel complete."

The dragon's eyes sparkled happily. "I feel that way too."

The sound of thudding footsteps reached their ears as a boy, no older than sixteen approached the small army covered in sweat and cuts. His knees were trembling and looked he was about to collapse. Luckily another man came up and grabbed the boy by the shoulders before he fell to the ground.

"Tell us, boy," the man spoke, "What comes?"

"I couldn't tell," the boy mumbled, "it was a sea of black, I can only guess the number."

"Then tell us!" the man slightly shook the boy in anger but mostly in fear.

"Two hundred, possibly more," the boy's eyes went wide scared of the man.

Silence overcame everyone. Yang's eyes went wide, her talons digging into the dirt as her long, golden scaly body tensed at the number. Two hundred! We don't even have that many! Yang's mind started to go to turmoil We're going to die, we won't be able to defeat Zu Lin's Army.

Blake could see the fear in Yang, for even she knew that their chances of winning this battle were slim. The tigress pondered what they could do to even the odds even just slightly. Of course, why didn't I think of that before!

"Yang, I might have an idea that may help us have a chance at beating Zu Lin!" Blake said her voice sounding hopeful.

"Unless it's a gift from the gods above I don't see any of us making it out alive," the dragon whimpered lowly so the men could not hear her.

"Just listen," Blake smacked her paw on Yang's snout "I can conjure shadow beasts to give us more fighting power."

"R-really?" Yang sounded hopeful "How many are you able to summon at once?"

"Well if I found a secluded area and concentrate I can summon at most forty," Blake said, "However I can't let them get too far from me or else they will vanish."

"Hmm…How many could you summon as you fight?" Yang questioned.

"twenty and they would be weak as I won't be focusing on them much to keep them solid."

"I see, that may give us a bigger chance of winning." Yang nuzzled the top of Blake's head before turning to the boy. "How far away are they?"

"T-they are a league or two away, great dragon." The boy stuttered

"So little time, Blake what do you think we should do?" Yang turned back to Blake looking for guidance.

"Maybe, if we all gather to the centre of the village there will be little space for the demons to fight us all at once than an open field." Blake flicked her tail from side to side as a plan started to formulate in her mind. "If we are fast enough we can use furniture from inside the houses to block some of the alleyways, closing more routes for Zu Lin's demon army. We can have some archers on the rooftops and wound some of the Grimm before they reach us."

"That is brilliant!" Yang gave the tigress a toothy grin before addressing the men of Hángzhōu. "Everyone we must hurry to the centre of the village, Zu Lin is two leagues away, possibly less. Blake, the guardian of Ānjí, has come up with a plan that could help us win this battle. Once we get to the middle of the village use all the furniture you can find and block the alleyways, this will lessen the number of enemies we will have to fight. For Hángzhōu!"

"For Hángzhōu!" all the men roared before rushing to the centre of the village to put Blake's plan into action.

Yang and Blake looked at each other and rested their foreheads together, for they believed it might be the last moment they will ever be together in peace. They engraved it into their hearts and minds, so they could think of this moment in case they die in this needless battle.

Meanwhile

"Are you sure we will be able to find her uncle?" a young red dragon asked as she flew next to a black-grey elder dragon.

"I am sure we will, we dragons can sense one another," he answered, his eyes flicked to the figure who was sitting on his niece's back. He chuckled, which was similar to the sound when someone clapped two copper bowls together, for the figure looked about to be sick. "You doing alright snow she-elf?!"

The said elf glared at the dragon with her piercing sky blue eyes, her white hair whipping behind her like a blizzard. "None of your business you overgrown lizard!"

"Uncle don't call Weiss a she-elf. She is a snow elf with incredible healing magic." The red dragon defended, which made the pale white elf blush. "But seriously Weiss are you alright?"

"I will be fine." Weiss groaned a little "Once I'm on the stable ground."

"Sorry," the red dragon whined an apology.

The thunder boomed in the clouds behind them with the faint sound of hissing rain. They had been flying for more than five days in hopes of finding a lost member of the family. The elf, however, just came along out of curiosity about the lands far to the east. Weiss had been living in the Himalayas for a century, with mythical creatures far and wide seeking sanctuary for their stories were all the same. That it was no longer safe to be near humans for all they did was kill and capture any mythical creature they could find. Considering she and her kin came from the snowy mountains in the west which the humans called Europe, Weiss had no idea what lay far off in the east. Until she met a young red dragon accompanied by an elder black-grey dragon that looked vastly different from the dragons she knew. It was the red dragon who told her the story of how she lost her sister from a very young age.

The sounds of a distant battle reached the trio's ears, battle cries and roars filling the air the closer the got.

"Ruby!" the black-grey elder dragon shouted, "I sense that Yang is nearby!"

"Where!"

Suddenly a bright beam of light as bright as the sun shot up to the sky, illuminating the dark clouds.

"We need to get there as fast as we can!" the older dragon roared and flew as fast as his powers of levitation let him.

"Wait for me Uncle Qrow!" Ruby yelled and tried to catch up. "Hold on Weiss!"

Weiss held onto the red dragon's horns for dear life as they sped through the air towards the distant battle.

The Grimm came from nowhere. The men were all gathered in the centre of the village, many of the alleyways were blocked off. All was silent. There was no shouting of a war declaration, no howls or barks from Zu Lin's army alerted them. It wasn't until Yang blinked that the battle had begun. The demon dogs were two feet higher than the men, towering over them. The archer's arrows did not deter them as they tore the flesh from the men's bodies. Snapping herself out of her daze Yang roared and lunged at the beast only for it to flee as if it was scared of her. Confused, the dragon searched for Blake hoping that she was alright but whenever a demon dog stepped on her path it would look at her curiously before scurrying off to find a different enemy. Why are they scurrying off at the sight of me? Yang pondered internally before shaking her head. Forget about that Yang, you have to find Blake.

"BLAKE!" Yang called over the sounds of battle and strained her hearing hoping to hear the voice of the tigress.

"YANG!" came the cry to her right. With the speed of a striking snake, the golden dragon leapt over a group of snarling Grimm and landed right by Blake's side.

"Blake are you-" Yang stopped midsentence as she saw the blood dripping from the tiger's shoulder, massive claw marks oozing as it dampened the tiger's fur. "You're hurt, badly."

"I'll be fine," Blake tried to brush off.

"No," Yang growled, "We need to get you somewhere safe."

"I am fine," Blake growled back. "You promised we'd fight alongside together. Are you going to break your promise?"

Yang dug her claws in the blood-stained earth knowing that she can't break her promise to Blake. "Fine stay close to me."

The two guardians fought the Grimm beasts with their fangs and talons, but they kept fleeing as if they were trying not to harm them. The creatures reasoning for not attacking Yang became apparent as the sea of black fur parted for the man who had caused all the chaos.

"Zu Lin," Yang growled lowly.

"Beast," Zu Lin spat in response. "I must say you have always been an irritation. Your whole kind has been. It has fallen to me to finish what the hunters of the past could not."

The old man drew out a sword from his robe the glimmer of the iron blade made Yang's golden scales prickle and with a flick of his wrist a grim two times the size of Yang bounded forward and snatched Blake in its jaws. The black tigress roared in pain, pupils shrinking to a pinpoint before her eyes closed unconscious. The giant dog demon shook the tigress like a poorly made straw doll and flung her to the side of a house. Blake's body hit the wall with a sickening crunch before falling to the floor. Yang's lilac eyes burned red as she saw Blake's body lay unmoving in the dirt. Snapping her head at to the giant dog demon, Yang leapt forward and clamped her jaws on the beast's neck and tore at it. The Grimm howled in pain as it tried to maul Yang off itself. The dragon held fast as she received deep claw wounds, blood dripping down her body and coating her scales in crimson red. Soon enough the Grimms painful howls ceased into silence and its body going limp. The dragon let the body of the demon dog fall from her jaws as she turned to face Zu Lin, even though the old man looked frail Yang knew she could not underestimate him.

The two circled one another, the fight between the Grimm and the villagers still raging on around them. Zu Lin lunged at Yang who just jumped out of the way and swung her talons at the man's head. However, Zu Lin blocked the oncoming blow with his iron sword. The metal burned Yang's scales and skin causing her to yelp. The old man smirked as he pushed the dragon's claw off his blade and slashed it across Yang's chest but missed by a hair's breath as she retreated a few steps back. Yang swung her long tail knocking the old man off his feet, as soon as he was down she pounced.

Bringing up his sword Zu Lin swiped his sword aimlessly he felt the blade cut through flesh and bone and a roar filled his ears. Landing next to his head was Yang's right claw. Yes! He cheered triumphantly within his mind Now is my chance to kill her. Scrambling to his feet, Zu Lin prepared to strike when suddenly he was blinded by a bright light that beamed up towards the sky and white gold flames sprouted outward along the ground burning all the Grimm to ashes. Zu Lin screamed in agony as the bright white gold light burned his eyes.

The beam of light disappeared and left in its wake was Yang who was glowing as bright as the sun in a white gold radiance. The wounds she had received had disappeared, the right claw that Zu Lin had cut off had re-appeared in the form of a solid looking flame claw. She stalked towards the now cowering man that had caused her pain and suffering, had killed and taken the lives of innocent people.

"P-Please have mercy!" he cried loudly, he could feel the unbearable heat radiating off the golden guardian

"You don't deserve mercy," Yang spoke lowly before she unleashed all of her power upon the man.

Flames engulfed him and were so hot that his skin had started to melt off his flesh, bubbling and falling off his form like melted wax. Yang continued to watch as he screamed until the only sounds she could hear were the sizzling and popping of his body as it burned.

A few moments later Yang's power had depleted, leaving a pile of ash were Zu lin once stood. Her right claw vanished leaving only a cauterised stump, freshly healed scars marred her scaled body as she swayed on the spot. The dragon guardian was tired. But she had won. She staggered over to Blake who was still lying motionless.

"Hey Blake," Yang nudged the tiger with her snout. "Get up, its over. We won."

The tigress gave no response.

"Blake…please." Yang sobbed as a tear ran down her face.

Darkness started to consume her as she struggled to stay on her feet. Collapsing Yang coiled around Blake's form as she lost consciousness.

Author's Note:

Hello everyone xXIyra16Xx here

I am certain you are all surprised by me updating this story before OFB, well its because this one is closer to its end than OFB is. Also, I'm losing the will to write. No one leaves comment or reviews anymore these days and well likes just really kick me in the gut. I am Also more active on Archive Of Our Own aka AO3 for the fact it has way more features than FFN. I will probably complete this fic and Operation Family Bonds on FFN but that will be it. If you wish to see my fics continue please leave reviews/comments they mean more to me than likes/follows or favs.

xXIyra16Xx signing out.