The Other Daughter

Chapter 7

The sun here burned brighter, or maybe that was just in her imagination.

Looking off into the distance, Yang saw that the road stretched on for miles, with no visible end. Eventually, it was swallowed up in the dense forest beyond the plains. Seeing no point in delaying, she followed the townspeople's instructions and walked along the dirt path into the unknown.

She had to admit, the heavily forested area was very peaceful; silent, save for the occasional chirps of birds hidden in the trees. Grunting, she hunched forward to reduce the strain of her pack on her muscles. The struggle wasn't quite so bad now that she'd used her long flight on the airship from Mistral as down time to rest her tired legs.

There was not a single human, animal, or Grimm in sight for the first few minutes of her walk. Eventually, a squirrel scurried past, diving into a nearby bush. Apart from that, Yang was all alone on her quiet trek. Better for her, too, she reasoned, since she wasn't quite sure what her plan was, or what she'd do once she made it to her destination.

Crap, she said to herself, glaring at the ground like it had wronged her. I didn't think that far ahead.

In hindsight, she realized that it probably would have been best to use her time on the airship to form a more solid plan. Although, to be fair, Yang was so frightened by every minor shake or hum during the flight that she couldn't focus. After all, she'd never flown before. So instead, she closed her eyes and tried, unsuccessfully, to ignore the conversations of the other passengers.

They talked about simple things she'd never taken time to consider. What activities they had planned for the weekend, new stores opening in Vale, whispers of the presence of a group called the White Fang in Beacon, which kingdom they'd cheer for in the next Vytal Festival tournament, which of the four Huntsman academies their children wanted to attend, and so on. Yang couldn't relate to, or find much of a reason to care about, any of this, yet they seemed deeply interested in these unremarkable topics. Would Ruby and Taiyang be that way? What sorts of things were they interested in? How much did they know about the Branwen Tribe's lifestyle?

Her chest tightened, but she pressed on. Not much further and she'd be there. A woman back in town where she stopped to get some food had said that once Yang saw the large rock on the side of the road, she'd only need to follow the path to the right. Then she would reach the cabin where one of Patch's local Huntsmen and his daughter lived.

Yang took a few more deliberately slow steps along the curving dirt path, looking up to see the dense canopy of trees thin and give way to a large clearing. Smaller trees dotted the grassy land surrounding a large cabin. She made her way toward the house, holding her breath and looking worriedly around to ensure she was alone. A sound caught her attention as she neared the house, and she threw herself behind one of the trees for cover. Feet crunched against twigs, sending a shiver through Yang's body.

The noise had come from the direction of the cabin.

Yang craned her neck and peeked around the corner to see a girl shorter than herself shuffling along, toting a small handaxe. It gleamed in the sunlight, bouncing up and down with the movements of her delicate frame.

She was so...tiny. Yang found it hard to believe that the girl before her was capable of wielding that axe with any level of proficiency. Yet she watched in amazement as the girl held the axe out at an angle and swung it forward with a soft cry, digging a deep groove into one of the trees. She continued in solitude, chopping away at the wooden trunk until an audible creaking signaled that the tree was about to fall. When a few more repetitive chops didn't do the trick, the girl groaned, tossed her axe to the ground, and shuffled around in her dress's pockets for something. Her blood-red cape caught a draft of wind and floated upward, throwing her off balance. She grumbled something in frustration and found her feet, whipping out an oblong, metal contraption of some kind. Holding it out in front of her, she pressed a trigger on its side, and with a metallic whir, it expanded into a large scythe right before Yang's eyes.