Yang Xiao Long wasn't happy that night.
The fog that blanketed Patch was thick and cold, perfect for going out early and enjoying the breeze.
It was three in the morning. The fragmented moon shone faintly through the few low clouds, casting ghostly shadows on the unpaved road.
A road on which Yang floored the accelerator of her motorcycle, making Bumblebee's engine roar, feeling the cold sea air seep into her bones.
Adrenaline was the only fuel keeping her warm, a volatile fire burning beneath her leather jacket. The emotion she felt wasn't joy, but repressed rage, a rage that always threatened to erupt and consume everything in its path.
Normally, she couldn't go so fast so close to home, since Taiyang, despite being retired, was still a hunter… a hunter who still possessed superhuman hearing, sharp enough to detect her the instant she began to accelerate.
The good thing was that Taiyang wasn't home. He'd been working as a substitute teacher for two days, doing a favor for an old colleague.
Yang had gladly accepted the responsibility of looking after the house and, above all, Ruby. She'd promised. And for the first time in a long time, she'd felt calm and secure, a functioning adult.
That tranquility was shattered just after midnight by a single notification on her Scroll.
The message was from the contact she least expected and despised the most: Silver, an informant, someone who always operated outside the law.
The message was unequivocal, even though its origin was unknown: "I have something of your mother's."
Yang felt a chill, followed by a burning heat in her chest. Raven. The name echoed in her head like a gong. It wasn't the first time she'd received a lead, but the urgency and timing of the message made her hesitate.
What if this time it was real? What if, instead of a mind game, there really was a way to confront the woman who had abandoned her, the same woman who now led a clan of bandits and hid behind portals capable of transporting her anywhere?
The blonde warrior had to find out.
The note she'd left on the refrigerator.
"I went to buy milk. I'll be right back. Be good!" -Y.
She knew it was a clumsy, pathetic lie. But it was the only way to justify her departure without waking Ruby and without having to face the truth: that her thirst for answers about her mother was an addiction that overwhelmed her and affected her more than she wanted to admit.
So Yang followed the coordinates Silver had sent her in a later message. The place was a dead end, an old hunting camp several kilometers inland, far from the coast and near a wooded area.
An area where she found nothing, not even after searching for two hours.
There were no campfires, no men of the Branwen tribe. Only a dilapidated wooden cabin, its roof having collapsed years ago.
Yang kicked a rusty can in barely contained fury. She had followed a false lead. Again. Silver's message was a deception, or perhaps Silver himself had been deceived.
The rage, held back only by the need for stealth, erupted.
"Damn it!" she yelled into the cold air, but the sound was quickly lost in the vastness of the forest. She fired a burst of shotgun shells at the cabin wall, shattering the rotten wood and leaving a cloud of smoke. The recoil, though familiar, did nothing to still the trembling in her hands.
It wasn't just the journey that enraged her. It was the fleeting hope that had deceived her.
She had believed, for a moment, that she might find the peace she so desperately craved.
She believed that the woman who had left would reappear, not as her mother, but to give her an explanation she could understand and, more importantly, one she could dwell on until the pain subsided.
The blonde stood there, breathing heavily, surveying the pointless destruction she'd caused. The sun would be hours away from rising. Going home now meant facing Ruby with that simmering frustration, and Yang knew she couldn't pretend everything was alright.
The decision was swift and impulsive. She needed an escape. A place where the fire could burn without consequence, a place where she could just be Yang, the impulsive future Huntress, not the responsible sister.
So she packed up Ember Celica and climbed onto Bumblebee, but instead of turning toward home, she headed for the city's nighttime bustle.
She arrived in the entertainment district just as the bars were at their peak. Neon lights filtered through the haze, creating an unreal aura. She chose a dark and noisy spot, a place where no one would ask questions or complain if a fight broke out.
She sat in the darkest corner, on the highest stool, and ordered the strongest thing they had: a glass of Fire Dust Ale, a local brew that stung more than a first-degree burn.
The first sip was to silence Silver's message.
The second was to silence Taiyang's voice in her head, reminding her of her promise.
The third... the third was directly for Raven.
"Fucking coward," Yang muttered, her lips to the glass, feeling the alcohol burn her esophagus and heat her soul.
The bar was noisy. Loud rock music, laughter that was too loud, and unintelligible conversations. Normally, that kind of chaos would energize her, but tonight it only served to fuel her resentment.
"Trouble, blondie?"
A raspy voice broke into her thoughts. He was a man in a dirty uniform, a low-ranking hunter, with facial scars and a tattered uniform.
Yang didn't look up. "It's none of your business."
"Come on, you're alone. And drinking like a pro, I can see that. Did your boyfriend dump you? Did you get fired?" The man chuckled until he was interrupted by a dry cough.
Yang slowly looked up, her violet eyes now gleaming with a dangerous intensity.
"I'm drinking. I'm alone. And if you don't move away from me in the next ten seconds, I promise I'll make you swallow your teeth. You haven't seen me on a good day," her voice was a dangerous whisper.
The man saw the warning in her eyes and, to her credit, shrank back and walked away muttering something under his breath.
To which Yang scoffed before taking a swig of her drink. She was so desperate for a fight, so consumed by frustration, that she was about to unleash her Semblance on some nobody in a dive bar. This wasn't what a Beacon Hunter, or a responsible older sister, should be doing.
But the pressure was too much. Her father expected her to be the anchor, the strong one, the one who didn't need her mother's validation. Ruby looked up to her like a hero, an endless source of confidence.
And Yang... she felt like she was crumbling under the weight of those expectations, all because of a woman who didn't even deserve her time or her pain.
She ordered another drink, followed by another and another... until she stopped counting and started talking to the bartender, a burly, taciturn man who seemed to have seen it all.
She talked about the shortcomings of the training system, about the uselessness of Vale's politicians, about anything that could distract from her own failure.
The hours dragged on, slow and blurry. At some point, she ended up joining a table of novice hunters, laughing at bad jokes and banging on the table with forced enthusiasm.
Her aura, her life force, cried out for a break, but she ignored it, using it to stay awake, to maintain the facade that she was having a good time.
"Another drink for the fiery blonde!" one of the novices shouted, raising his glass.
Yang smiled. A wide, empty smile. She felt numb, as if she were floating outside her own body, watching this self-destructive version of herself make terrible choices.
When the bartender finally shouted "Last round!" the sun was already beginning to peek over the horizon somewhere far away, beyond the neon lights.
The clock read 6:15 a.m.
…
The harsh light of dawn, even filtered through the bar's grimy window, felt like a physical assault. The alcohol had worn off a bit, leaving behind a throbbing headache and a bitter taste in her mouth.
She glanced at her Scroll. No missed calls. Ruby was an angel, probably fast asleep, confident that her sister was safe and would return.
Yang stood up, unsteadily. She waved goodbye to the table with a vague nod and paid her bill with a crumpled wad of Lien.
Xiao had to concentrate intensely just to find her way back to Bumblebee. Every movement was slow, heavy.
The swift and strong Hunter in training from the night before had been replaced by a young woman with a hangover and a guilty conscience.
As she drove back, more out of muscle memory than anything else, the sky shifted from a dark indigo to a pale pink, and then to a sickly gold… which she ignored, thinking her mind was playing tricks on her.
When she arrived at the house, the sun was struggling to win the battle against clouds with peculiar shapes.
Yang stopped at the door, inhaling deeply into the cool air, trying to clear the smell of alcohol from her breath before going inside. When she pushed open the door, she was ready for the worst-case scenario: an angry Ruby, or a call from a worried Taiyang.
What she received left her completely confused and shocked.
Yang Xiao Long was delighted the next morning.